IP Intellectual Property Protection

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Artists need to be very conscious of the ease in the 21st century with which works of art can be forged. You must take as many steps as possible to deter copies of your works being stolen.

6 Steps to Protect your IP Intellectual Property:

  1. Keep a record book with complete details of each and every work you’ve ever created for future reference.
  2. Take a Photograph of the work and keep the date, notes, measurements of the piece and a record of materials used if possible.
  3. Scan a  digital version of the artwork also. Not only is this good to vital to protect your IP intellectual property but when it comes time to set up a website or someone asks you for your portfolio you will need a record at hand. Besides the IP issues I imagine, you’ll want a record of all your creations even if its just so you can reminisce when you’re 85 sitting on the rocking chair of life.
  4. Record the name, email address, and contact telephone number of people that you have sold your artwork too. For starters you will want to build a mailing list which will lead to future sales but this also helps prove provenance if any issues of ownership ever pop up.
  5. Keep a consistent signature on art work and always date work in the same way.
  6. There is a new Cloud Based service called MyOws (My Original Works) that I reviewed several months ago that really makes recording your IP intellectual Property easy as uploading an image to their servers where your image is timestamped and a digital image is kept on file.
Beyond your lifetime your Estate or other Art Experts may try to authenticate your works of art. Keeping a solid record of your work will aid authentication and may help your  family financially down the track.
Small Business Ideas - 1 Oct 2011 - by Rob Jennings

About Rob Jennings

When he found himself embroiled in a conversation with someone talking about their ‘customer-centric core competencies’ he realised it was time to create a Web Design Agency that was less about self promoting buzz-words and more about people and giving them the tools to understand the web.

The idea behind We Push Buttons was to create an environment where business owners can learn about building their organisation, whether it be with an outstanding website, SEO or any other marketing ideas. Coming from the art industry and online retail background he knows first hand the needs of growing a business in a tough environment.

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