I have a ticket to get into my club…it look similar to another clubs ticket.
Similar way the words are put on the ticket, but differetn fonts and a differernt image, but since it’s the same business, the conditions on the back are similar and the barcode is in the same place.
Can you copyright the format of a ticket?
I’m not an attorney.. did do some work that had a lot of intellectual property law involved… you CAN copyright a specific expression, you cannot copyright an idea or general pattern…
The big expense/pain in the ass come with ENFORCING the copyright… you have to convince a judge that 1, you came up with a specific design first, 2. you registered the copyright, 3. your effort was sufficiently distinct from all other similar designs that you have uniquely recognizable product of the imagination… you can’t just pick up random crap on the street and copyright it…
Although you could technically fight for copyright control, the expense and effort would probably put you out of business, unless you have a major franchise to protect…
This is why bigger outfits invest great sums in trademarked designs (much greater standard of protection than copyright, and also much more expensive to get registered)… so most big time identifying mark, public images, are trademarked rather than copyrighted, although an ad in a magazine will be both trademarked and copyrighted in most cases…
Then you have to assess potential harm… what does the existence of a similar ticket DO to your business model ? Is counterfeiting a problem ? Do you need to add hard to obtain fluorescent inks so they can be quickly checked by security personnel ? Even the US government has a massively hard time staying a step ahead of the counterfeiters with the best ink technologies in the world…
If you think you might be starting a stable brand, like a business model that might expand to a chain of clubs that could be later bought up by a private equity fund (happened to the brother of a friend of mine) then you definitely ought to learn about trademark law and having a design firm create a unique, protected logo… it depends a lot on how distinct your product/service really is in the space that it operates, how important a unique identity is to your business model, and how much you want to invest in defining that identity…
Tacitus - good to see you!
You write a book that is about dogs: I really love dogs, they are such wonderful loving and loyal pets. They will even eat cats too. What’s not to love?
I write a book about dogs: I so love and appreciate dogs. Dogs are tremendously loyal and loving they are wonderful. My dog likes to eat cats. What’s not to love?
Virtually the same but completely different as far as copyright laws are concerned. Copyright is the printed words as they appear. That’s also why you need a very good agent and lawyer when you screenwrite.
We both go in with the same idea to Joe Hollywood and yours gets rejected but surprisingly in the fall lineup the near identical show is now a hit. Sorry you lose since the idea might be similar but the idea is not copyrighted. Only the words.
Beautiful thanks!