Copyright + Trademark Game for Authors

In this episode, Tiffany A. Greenhood delivers an essential masterclass on intellectual property protection for authors and creative entrepreneurs, covering copyright, trademark, and wealth-building strategies.

• Copyright automatically belongs to you once your idea is put in tangible form (written down or recorded)
• Copyright protection lasts for your lifetime plus 70 years after death
• Register copyright at Copyright.gov for strongest legal protection
• Books, digital products, journals, social media posts, and graphic designs can all be copyrighted
• Trademark protects brand names, business names, podcast names, and event titles
• Book titles cannot be copyrighted or trademarked, but book series can be trademarked
• Registering an LLC does not protect your business name nationally—you need a trademark
• Trademark registration fees start at $250-350 per class when filing yourself
• Beware of companies claiming to "patent" your ideas—verify they specialize in the right intellectual property protection

Protect what you create: Copyright protects your work. Trademark protects your brand. IP builds your wealth.

Transcript

Welcome to Published in Black

Speaker 1 0:00

Stay tuned for Published in Black , the go-to radio show for black authors , creatives and entrepreneurs ready to turn their stories into success . Hosted by publishing expert and brand strategist , tiffany A Greenhood , each show will deliver real talk , powerful strategies and insider knowledge on self-publishing , brand building , wealth creation and making an impact with your voice . Whether you're writing your first book , growing your business or scaling your influence , published in Black will equip you with the tools , inspiration and unapologetic confidence to thrive . Listen now and be informed .

Speaker 2 0:38

Hey , it's Tuesday , y'all , I am back . Welcome to Published' Black radio show . I am your host , tiffany A Greenhood , and we are going to dig in today , so last Tuesday , if you missed it , you can go and listen to the replay on um . You can actually go to PublishinBlackPodcastcom or you can click on PublishWithTiffanycom . Okay , either one of those will lead you to my link directly to my podcast . That is where I put all the live radio replays on my podcast , okay .

Speaker 2 1:14

So if you missed the last few Tuesdays and you really want to get it in because you know I'm always dropping those gems , those things that you

Protecting Your Genius

Speaker 2 1:22

need , not just for self-publishing but for life , for business and everything surrounding that Okay , so we're going to hop right in . Last Tuesday I talked about I just kind of talked about life , okay , and I'm celebrating my 50th birthday . My birthday was June 14th , so it's been a major , major shift for me and I'm very excited . So I wanted to hop back in with some amazing content for you all . So , if you are in a place where you can take notes , you definitely want to take notes , because today we are talking about protecting your genius , okay , copyright , trademark and IP for authors Okay . So this is just not for authors . But you know , even if you're in a business owner , you don't have a book . This applies to you as well . So let's get it right in , let's get it in .

Speaker 2 2:12

So today we're gonna talk about ownership and protection , ownership and protection . So we talked a lot about publishing a book . We'll write my story , write my story , but you need to also own it as well . Not that you don't already own it , but there are different um . What am I trying to say ? There are different um registrations . You can register your trade , your um not trademark your copyright for your book um , in addition to you already being the um copyright . So let's just break it down .

Speaker 2 2:44

So , once you write your book , okay , once you take an idea from your head and you write it on a napkin , a paper towel , a piece of paper , it can be that simple , right . Once you do that , you are the copyright owner . Okay , in photography , once you take the photo I have 17 years in photography , y'all Copyright is strong . I know a lot of people are doing trademarks now and that's amazing too , but let's not forget about copyright . Let's not forget that copyright is still strong and holds a lot of weight , okay , so , like I said your book , your idea , once you put it on paper ,

Understanding Copyright Laws

Speaker 2 3:29

tangible paper , okay , that copyright belongs to you . So every photo that I have taken with my camera meaning I push the button on the camera Guess what that made me the copyright owner of every image I've taken . And let me tell y'all something I used to do weddings . I love , I still love weddings . Um , so what does that mean ? Yeah , so I charged . I charged brides and grooms thousands to take their wedding photos . However , um , it doesn't matter what they paid you , it does not matter . You know anything else , you are still the copyright owner .

Speaker 2 4:14

The only way copyright can be transferred is in writing . Okay , it's in writing , and copyright stands up in the court of law . Okay , so I need for you to know that . Okay , so you need to make sure that you are copywriting your stories , your books , whether it's a book , a journal . I have journals that I have published , that I created strictly from scratch . I have journals and planners that I use templates , in that those copyrights are owned by someone else . Right now , I have the , the legal , I have the legal right to resell those , but the copyright doesn't belong to me , right ? But then I have journals and planners and workbooks that I've created from scratch . Yes , you can take those and you can copyright them . They belong to you . Okay , so it's so much I want to get in today . So I need for you to know that you can go to copyrightgov is the website and you can copyright your book , your journal , your story , your blog posts . I got a whole list that I'm going to give you guys that .

Speaker 3 5:26

Hey .

Speaker 2 5:26

Facebook . Okay , I'm , so I'm live on Facebook and on Tik TOK . Um , if you are already on my Facebook , then you can , you know , click on the lab and follow there and then I am black writer space on um , tik TOK . So just FYI . But , yes , you can go to copyrightgov and you can copyright your book , your journal , workbook , all of that . So even on a napkin . Yes , that's crazy , isn't it ? But it's real . So , um , just to just to give you a little list of certain things that you can copyright .

Speaker 2 6:02

So you copyright books , fiction ,

What You Can and Cannot Copyright

Speaker 2 6:04

non-fiction , children's story , poetry , whatever your book is about , don't matter , it can be copywritten . Okay , you are the copyright owner automatically when you write it . But you want to go to copyrightgov so you can have that backup protection ? Okay , that's , that's what that's about . It's not that the copyright on your own and I know people still walk around talking about the um , the , uh , poor man's copyright , oh , you can mail it to yourself . I don't know if that stands up in court , but I know this . Do so , just what I'm telling you even get your backup and go to copyrightgov , pay the fee and they will send you . When it's approved , they will send you a um certificate . It'll be a copyright certificate . That's when you know you officially the owner .

Speaker 2 6:50

Okay , so don't do that . I mean don't , don't , don't pass this up , don't like forget to do this , don't like set it to the side because it's very important . So , when somebody try to copy your stuff or resell your book , that's your proof , hey , rone , that is your proof that you , um , are the owner . So don't , don't , please , don't , just skip over this . This is very important . This is probably like one of the most important um teachings I've done since I've been on here . So , yeah , copyrightgov , okay , let it become your best friend .

Speaker 2 7:21

Pull up , you don't know how to it . Pull up every . There's a video for everything on YouTube . Ok , so don't go there . All right , so you do books , e-books , ok . Digital products all your digital products . I'm heavy on digital products . Don't skip over those .

Speaker 2 7:37

Yes , copyright them . I don't care how simple it is , how basic the information may be , whatever Copyright it , it belongs to you . Journals , workbooks , course guides , manuals , blog posts . Did you know that you could copyright and they just added this on within the last three years you can copyright your social media posts . I bet you didn't know that . I bet y'all did not know that . Yes , you can copyright social media posts . Get out of here . Yes , and I know I didn't put so much content on social media you can copyright that stuff .

Speaker 2 8:12

Yes , people cannot just copy your stuff and it's like no , no , there is protection out here . And let me just tell you , copyright lasts from um as long as you live , right ? So so let's just say me , my book , I copyright my book . Right , my copyright lasts as long as I live , plus six , 70 years after I'm gone . That's powerful . After I'm gone , that's powerful . And that's why , if any of y'all ever went in um Walgreens and try to print out old pictures , try to make copies , they will not let you because they know the copyright laws period and you'll be like but this , oh this , and that you got to understand it has to be 170 , some years old , almost 200 years old , and nobody lives that long . That's why they automatically know no , you cannot , you cannot copy this , you cannot make copies , you can't scan it , none of that , because they will get sued . So just understand , it's copyright is the bomb , okay . So um , even um .

Speaker 2 9:22

Audio and visual content , podcasts , episodes and scripts , recorded speeches and sermons , recorded video content , audio books , voiceover recordings , graphic design you got shirts . I just bought me a heat press , all right , so I'm making shirts and stuff and people , steady , keep hitting me up for orders . Guess what you can copyright your T-shirt designs . Yes , keep in mind , it lasts as long as you live in 70 years after I . Please write this stuff down , okay ?

Speaker 2 9:55

So , um , what else we got here original illustrations or artwork , book cover designs . Hello what ? I'm a book cover designer . I design book covers for people . I've never had a client ask for their book cover design to be transferred over to them . So what ? That means Tiffany . That means I own all the book cover designs that I did . Hello , yes , it is rewards for being a creative artist .

Speaker 2 10:26

Ok , so , yeah , you got to do your homework . You got to do your homework . You got to know you're not just out here just doing stuff and then once they pay you , it's over . No , if you created it , if it's your creative design from your brain , you're the copyright owner period . Your brain , you're the copyright owner period . So we got original illustrations , book cover designs , custom graphics for branding website , even a website copy on your website . You ever wonder why I say copyright at the bottom of a website ? Because it's copyright protected . Come on . We didn't know that . Yes , yes , educational and business content , online course content , workshop materials , lesson plans , educational curriculums Y'all see this , and I printed out this stuff so I wouldn't miss anything .

Speaker 2 11:19

What you cannot copyright . Now let me break this down for you . There are certain things you cannot copyright , and we're going to go over certain things . You cannot trademark either . So what you cannot copyright ? You cannot copyright book titles , and I know you probably didn't know that , but let me tell you something . This is why this is why you are able to um , have , you are able to publish a book that already has the same title . That's why . That's why you see movies with the same titles , cause you cannot trademark or , um , you cannot no copyright , not trademark . You cannot copyright book titles or movie titles and things like that , so that's why you kind of see them duplicated a lot of times . It could be the same exact movie title and be two completely different movies . One could have been , uh , released 30 years ago , right ? So so it's so much Copyright I need for you to know . Copyright is strong and you need to exercise your ownership and your rights for your books and your creations . Okay , and I'm gonna go take a break and I'll be right back , okay .

Trademark Essentials

Speaker 3 12:42

You can turn it on or off . It's hard to understand Sometimes . Is there a master plan ? How do I make sense Of everything ? Is there a master plan ? How do I make sense of everything going to you ? Maybe it's not ours to know , so we have to learn to let things go and simply try to make the most of every day and have the faith that somehow we will find the way . So count it on your faith . All that you're going through , even when you're feeling down , count it on your mind . Each moment's a gift to you . So turn it all around and even in the darkest night , if you look hard enough , there's a trace of sunlight . Waiting there , yes , waiting there for you , waiting for you . Been searching everywhere to find that rainbow in the air . Rainbow , whenever I came close , just seemed to disappear . I had to change my point of view .

Speaker 2 14:36

I had to change my point of view . Start looking at myself . I can't believe I never knew . Hey , count it all joy . Y'all , count it all joy . When you are getting information like this , you better be applying it to something , because now you don't have an excuse . See , when you start to get the truth and the truth is being exposed to you now you got some decisions to make , because you can't walk around and say , well , I didn't know , I didn't even know that . Now you know now . So now it's time to make some hard decisions . Okay , because you can't sit around like you know what to do , because you can't sit around like you know what to do .

Speaker 2 15:16

All right , we're going to talk about trademarks , trademarks , trademarks . Now I hear a lot of people throw the word around patent . You know , every time you share an idea with somebody or something , it could be a family member , friend . I've heard this so many times . Even people have told it to me . Oh , you can patent that . You can patent that they don't even be doing what they're talking about . Okay , I tell y'all about starting listening to people . Um , thank you so much . I see y'all comment on facebook and I see y'all coming in on tiktok . Um , you have to be careful who you listen to , okay , because people just throw stuff out there and it usually be something they just heard of and this , and that they don't know what they're talking about . I had a friend call , uh , text me and she said I just got my clothing line patent and I knew instantly she don't even know what she's talking about , because you can't have no clothing line like what . Yeah , do your research y'all . I'm gonna need y'all , do y'all research . Okay , you can talk to ai , ai will break it all the way down for you . Um , google , look up stuff . It's videos on YouTube . Yeah , so trademark , trademark , trademark , trademark y'all . The website to trademark . I'm getting ready to tell you everything you can trademark , but the website is USTPOgov , ustpogov . That is where you register your trademarks , all right , and so what you can trademark ? So you can trademark your brand name , business names .

Speaker 2 16:45

Let me clear something up , because a lot of people think , because they registered their LLC , that their name is protected . So I've heard that for years as well from clients , and you know whether I was working with them . And I've heard that for years as well from clients and you know whether I was working with them or not . I've heard business owners say this so much and I don't know where they got this from . But you are not protected . Your business name is not protected . Okay , for a trademark , it's not Okay . It's only protected when you trademark it . Okay , it's not okay , it's only protected when you trademark it . Okay . So just because you create , you register your business and you know which , or because , let's be real , when you register your business you're registering it with the state

Book Series and Brand Protection

Speaker 2 17:27

that you live in , or a state you're registering at state level , okay , um , and so that does not mean that it's protected . That means that no one else can get that name . They cannot register another business in their name in your county has nothing to do with another county , another city , another state . Ok , so you're not protected , and it's such a misconception with this .

Speaker 2 17:51

So here's the deal If you have a business name and I don't use the term business name too much , but if you have a brand , I like to call it a brand because you want to be building a brand , because it expands so much more . So if you have a brand , you want to trademark your brand name . So what is a brand ? Tiffany , let's go . Walmart , target , right , best . Chipotle , that's my favorite spot , right . So those are brands , okay . And so brands build relationships and this and this . But they lock down Target . They lock that name down , okay , so it belongs to them . It's federally protected . That's a whole different protection . So you can trademark your business name or brand . I say brand . You can trademark your brand name . So , just because you set up your LLC and you think you know , oh , they can't use that because that belong to me , it don't belong to you . And they can go and they can trademark it . And then guess what , you'll be looking crazy because they went and trademarked it . So if somebody , y'all have business similar or y'all got the same business name and they go trademark it before you guess what , it's probably going to get approved . So , hey , you've got to be on top of your game in business . Okay , you cannot walk around saying what you don't know . Um , so you can trademark your business name , brand , brand name , author , imprints , you know , publishing brand , podcast name . You can trademark that . If you have a conference and you had this event , if there's an event that you have every year , yes , you can trademark that . Yeah , I would advise you to trademark it because you never know who's coming to . People are just as you are , um , igniting your businesses and your brands . Somebody's somewhere sitting thinking about the same thing , so everything is not so unique all the time . Sometimes a lot of other people thinking about it too , and they may just go ahead and just lock it down , and so what that happens is , if they lock it down , then they can send you a cease and desist . You got to take all your stuff down and this may be a business that you've been building for 15 years . No , you can't do nothing about it . So the thing is is to go and start studying trademark . Now most people go through an attorney . Me personally , I'm not going through no attorney . I'm doing mine myself . But if you feel like you , you know you feel better protected with an attorney do that . But make sure you use an attorney that specializes in trademark , not just that they an attorney , because this attorneys out here that do other stuff , they may be a criminal attorney . And if you come in there for a trademark and they say , oh yeah , we could do it , I've seen I'm saying all this because I've seen clients who have paid attorneys and law firms that did not specialize in trademarks to do them wrong . To do them wrong . Yes , that means that . You know . I it's just one girl . She's in indiana , she has , she's a publisher , she do a lot of stuff . She trademarked a brand name I'm not gonna say the brand name and she has on her website that it's a coaching program . She trademarked it . But whoever she had trademarked it , they put it in the category of apparel . That's totally off . Why chill y'all out here paying to do stuff ? I know we assumed that because people got titles and they've been to school , all these degrees and stuff , that they know what they're doing . A lot of times they don't . And I've seen that with trademark um , people who have gotten things trademarked that they're getting them , they're not doing them right , they're paying attorneys and they're not being done right . Ok , so you really want to do your research and get somebody who specialize in trademarks ? If you're going to pay someone to do it for you , ok , so , so you can trademark your conference names . You can trademark your , your podcast name , your radio show title , youtube show , sky's the limit . Now , when it comes to books , you cannot . I told you you cannot copyright your book title . You cannot trademark a book title either . Here's the deal , unless it's a book series . If you have a book series , or it's volume one or volume two , you can trademark a book series . If you have a book series , so it's volume one , volume two , you can trademark a book series . So , for example , I can trademark my magazine name because it's a series . I put out issues one after another . That's considered a series . So you understand what I'm saying . So if it's just one book you're writing a book about your life you cannot copyright or trademark that . Now , if the same name of your book is your brand name , go ahead and trademark the brand name . Okay , and so it may not stop anyone from buying , from publishing a book with that same title , even if you trademark the brand and it shares the same title as your brand name . I hope you're following me right . It still may not be protected , but you have the , you will have the brand trademarked , okay , and that's only if you're building a brand . So , um , so , yeah , so uh , workshop names , conference names , tour titles , summits or retreats , apparel lines . You know that's what my friend should have been saying when she called and said she had her thing patented . She didn't even know , and so I'm assuming that she probably went through one of them companies on TV they say , oh , patent your idea , don't be calling them folks , because they know y'all don't know nothing , and so they will take your money and you think you protect it . Because she came back and said I ain't say too much , you know , because people , you know they don't trust nothing that you're saying . You might have everything that they need , but they'll trust some whack company like that . So it's just like . It's just like , it's just like that . So . But she came back and she mentioned , um , something about she couldn't . Oh , they say I can't sell online . And I'm like what she said all the wrong information . I ain't say nothing , I'm just like lord , thank you , thank you for making me smart , thank you for making me brilliant . And you know , I go and I do the research and I read and I see the truth right in my own face . You know what I'm saying . Yeah , so be careful out here . So go and study trademark and trademark and copyright so you can start to protect your content . That was my whole purpose for bringing this in today , because it's important and we can't be out here lost like this , you know . Oh , and so the fees . Let me get y'all the fees real quick . So , trademark fees um , now , when you go to an attorney , you know some of them charge 2,000

Final Thoughts on Ownership

Speaker 2 24:47

, 2,500 , 3,500 , whatever they fee is , but if you are going to do it yourself , the fees start at 250 . They have 250 and 350 per class . Okay , so you , so you can do your homework , you can find out what class you need to be registering your trademark in and then you go from there . Again , the information is out there for you to do this yourself , or make sure you find an attorney that is specialized in trademarks . Okay , I'm going to take a quick break .

Speaker 1 25:40

Some days it seems like it'd be easier to just let go .

Speaker 3 25:48

I know you're praying for a change , to see a sunny day . Nothing good has come your way for so long . You need someone to understand this place your heart is in . You just want to dream again and believe . Your skies may look dim and gray , but know your breakthroughs not far away . So hold on tight . You are too close to give up . That's what we want you to do . Yes .

Speaker 1 26:26

You have so much to live for . Remember what you prayed for yes , don't give up . It's no matter what you're going through right now .

Speaker 2 26:43

Okay , so I dropped a lot of heavy stuff today . Again , if you need to listen to the replay , you want to go to publishingblackpodcastcom and you can hear this whole episode . Then you know , get your notebook , take notes . Okay , so I'm gonna leave you with this . Copyright protects your work . Trademark protects your brand . Ip builds your wealth if you are creating it . You need to own it . Okay , we need to own what we create . Okay , stop sitting around like you don't know nothing and go learn something . See y' you next time .

Speaker 1 27:38

You have been listening to , Published in Black with publishing expert and brand strategist , Tiffany A Greenhood . Listen next week for real talk , powerful strategies and much more . Again , we thank you for listening . Did you enjoy this radio show ? Well , you too can have your own radio show right here on Rejoice 1023 to promote your business or ministry . For more information on how you can have your own radio show or advertise .