What Is A Trademark, Who Owns It, and Why Should You Care As An Author?

Chris Ferebee (@caferebee) of Yates & Yates (@yatesandyates) literary agency writes about confusion some published authors have when it comes to trademarks. He asks

Do you know who owns the title to your book? Do you know who owns the right to the name of your quirky, one of a kind character? Do you know who has the ability to license the name of your book, or character name, or any other potential trademark along with the various commercial, merchandising, dramatic and other rights to all of the folks who will come calling after you’ve enjoyed commercial success? Think movie studios for sure, but what about the video game industry? What about graphic novel adaptations? Heard of the new Spider-Man show on Broadway? Who knows, maybe even someone will want to license your character for a lunchbox. Are you, as the author, the one who these folks should be talking to, or is it your publisher?

Read this in full.

Give us your comments on how you strategically think about trademarks.

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