Art and Copyright

All artists need to know how to protect their intellectual property rights, including copyrights, rights of publicity or personality, and moral rights. Whether or not art or name, image, or likeness is your livelihood, Insigne can help take the steps necessary to ensure your ownership (and control) of your work or personal brand.

Copyright protects original works expressed in a tangible form. Copyright includes a broad range of creative works, such as photographs, visual art, audio recordings, sheet music, novels, and screenplays. Copyright protection exists from when the work is first fixed, in a tangible form, and immediately becomes the author’s property who created the work. Only the author can rightfully claim copyright. Insigne assists photographers, artists, and authors and employers in resolving ownership issues, drafting employment or work-for-hire agreements, licensing, Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown disputes, and copyright registration.

The right of publicity is an intellectual property right that protects against the misappropriation of a person’s name, likeness, or other indicia of personal identity—such as a nickname, pseudonym, voice, signature, likeness, or photograph—for commercial benefit. When considering the right of publicity, copyright, privacy, and defamation claims may also arise. Insigne attorneys assist athletes, influencers, and famous individuals in protecting their brand.