by Ivan Hoffman
Whether you are a publisher, author, website designer, site owner or otherwise, you may find yourself in the position of having to request permission to use protected materials belonging to another party. “Protected materials” means materials protected by the copyright, trademark, unfair competition or other laws or judicial decisions of the United States or any individual state. This term, as I use it, can include text, graphics, logos, photographs or other such materials as well as personal rights against defamation, invasion of privacy and publicity. Keep in mind that there are multi-layers of protection and while the federal laws may preempt state laws in the same areas, there may be other laws applicable in a given state that may exist to protect rights independent of federal law. All of these are what I refer to as “protected materials.” READ MORE –>>