Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Massachusetts
is a magazine's graphic design intellectual property?
I have a small company and over several years worked very hard at creating a unique and specific design to present information and listings about the arts community.
Another arts community- we share the same tourists- has copied the entire design and layout including very specific creative design
concepts in the presentation of the masthead, table of contents, intro pages and design organization of information.
The ''publisher'' has titled herself the''art director'' as I do on my masthead credits. They use the same title- (with their town name in front).
This guide is technically poor yet looks as though it is done by us and may adversely affect our company's reputation. They also stole an EXACT sentence (unusual in styling)from my masthead letter and used it in theirs.
The presentation style of the information in our book is a carefully crafted work of art beyond ''utilitarian''in function. Do I have any legal recourse?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: is a magazine's graphic design intellectual property?
Several species of intellectual property rights may be at issue. First, however, you need to supply more information on the relationship between your company and the "arts community" (is this a paying customer?). It may be that the community owns some of the applicable rights. Also, since registration is a prerequisite to bringing a copyright claim, have you registered any version of the publication?
Best wishes,
LDWG
Related Questions & Answers
Looking for something else?
10,200 active attorneys ready to answer your legal questions today.
Featured Attorneys
Earn additional revenue and grow your business.
