This episode is sponsored by Hashtag Legal. Contact Hashtag Legal to set up a consult to assist with your questions about influencer marketing contracts. 

When we talk about intellectual property, we are speaking of products of the mind: ownership of work or content that has been born out of creativity, whether it's an invention, an image, or a literary piece. It might be easier to think of this as ownership of something intangible; while I might own a Harry Potter t-shirt, Harry Potter and his wizarding world belongs to J.K. Rowling, a character and universe of her own creation. As the owner she has the legal right to transfer that ownership if she ever so desired (assignment), or to license its use by another party on a limited basis (for instance, to make Harry Potter t-shirts).

Seems simple enough, right? Well, hang on a second.

The three main intellectual property areas are patent, copyright, and trademarks. Not every creation can be patented, copyrighted, or trademarked; there are certain rules surrounding each that govern whether the creation in question can be exclusively owned.

Also, there are times where someone may be allowed to use your copyrighted material without your giving permission— this falls under the umbrella of fair use and includes instances of parody, commentary, and criticism.

For a quick crash course in copyright and trademarks:

Intellectual Property: All About Copyright
Trademarks and Blogging: What You Should Know

In this week's episode of the Businessese Influencer Marketing Podcast, we cover the two areas of intellectual property that we deal with most in the influencer marketing space—trademarks and copyright. Listen in as we discuss:

* what can or can't be trademarked or copyrighted
* how trademark and copyright rights are acquired, and when they should be registered
* licensing and the boundaries of fair use
* how to go about protecting your work
* and when to involve a lawyer.

We also include some hard-to-hear truth about using those free online stock photo sites.

Links discussed in this episode:

* Trademark Electronic Search System (TESS)
* United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)
* Copyright.gov
* Paid stock photo options:

* Canva
* Depositphotos
* Shutterstock

* Preparing a DMCA Takedown Notice

Next we're tackling a hot topic in the world of influencer marketing: the FTC and their recent clarification on disclosure best practices. Let us know what you think of today's podcast in our private Facebook group, Businessese HQ, and we'll see you next Thursday!