How to Protect Your Money Makers
Last week I covered auditing your assets – first variable of the three part equation (Audit + Protect = Leverage) for turning expertise into recurring revenue.
With a clear understanding of your assets, it's time to protect them. There are two key methods for safeguarding your expertise: copyright registration and contracts.
Copyright Registration
Why copyright registration instead of trademark registration?
Contrary to popular belief, if you want to protect your most valuable assets—your money makers--copyright registration is required.
A quick example:
Your HR Consultancy, DiverCity Talent Solutions®, provides DEI training to corporate clients.
TRADEMARK PROTECTS: DiverCity Talent Solutions®
COPYRIGHT PROTECTS: Training materials, such as videos, slides, workbooks and guides; Work product and Deliverables
Which one provides value to your clients? In other words, which assets does you client pay you money for?
These assets are protected by copyright.
Your corporate clients care about the transformation your provide. You do that with your copyrighted works. Sorry, but I’ve never heard of a corporate client picking a consultant because of their trademark.🤷🏾♀️
Contracts
While copyright registration takes care of infringers, the number one way we lose control of our valuable assets is through contracts – or the lack thereof. Not using contracts or not understanding the contracts you sign can lead to giving away rights without compensation.
These are self-inflicted wounds. Did you accidentally give your client an unlimited license to use your materials? You need contracts that limit their ability to reuse your expertise without you.
Similarly, without a signed agreement, your contractors own the deliverables you paid for. You must have signed contracts with your contractors, assigning the rights to everything they deliver to you.
In a world with AI, oral and unsigned agreements (including email) pose additional risks. Without a signed agreement, you can't be sure that the work delivered by a contractor is original and doesn’t infringe third-party rights.
You don’t want to be on the receiving end of a cease and desist letter from the owner of materials you don’t have the right to use. At best, you’ve wasted money and momentum. At worst, you’ll incur legal fees and permanently damage your reputation.
In sum
You know by now that IP is everywhere. More importantly, YOUR IP IS EVERYWHERE. Make sure you use copyright protection and contracts to make sure you own and control it.