For decades, creators of intellectual property had the copyright laws behind them in protecting their efforts. Every reader of books or publications is familiar with the easily recognized copyright symbol (©), which shows that the author doesn’t wish the material copied, reprinted, or quoted extensively without prior permission. In an age of mechanical printing, this was often sufficient. It took a fair amount of effort to transpose existing materials, and the possibility of doing so without noticing the copyright symbol was considered unlikely. In fact, the right of an author to copyright protection has become so accepted that recent changes in the law make this protection available even without the previously required visible attachment of a copyright symbol to the materials and filing of the materials with a governmental organization.

Enter the computer age. With so much material now available in electronic format, the ability to “cut and paste,” even from one web site to another, virtually has eliminated the time and mechanical barriers to copying such materials. And what’s easy to do often gets done.

Have you created procedures to be certain that you and your staff don’t let this ease of use lead to copyright violations, including unauthorized infringement on the slogans or trademarks of others? And if such inadvertent infringement occurs, will your current insurance provide protection? As the capabilities of the digital age evolve, we’ll be happy to help you ensure that your copyright liability protection evolves as well.