This one comes up a lot in conversation around me.  Apparently, I am extremely territorial and materialistic.

A copyright is a form of protection given to authors for their original literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and/or other published or unpublished intellectual works.  The 1976 Copyright Act gives the author exclusive rights to the copyrighted work.  A copyright only protects forms of expression.  For example, a description of an invention can be copyrighted but it only protects other people from copying the description.  It would not give protection to the invention itself.

A trademark is a form of protection for a word, name, or symbol used to indicate a source of a good and to distinguish the actual product from others.  Trademarks prevent others from using similar symbols or logos, but do not prevent others from making the same product.

A patent gives the inventor a property right to his invention.  In the US, a typical patent lasts 20 years, and prohibits anyone from replicating, using, or selling the invention in the US.

This website is copyrighted to prevent others from using my posts to get rich.  Because if it wasn’t copyrighted, people would definitely be getting rich off this.  I know I am.

No, I’m not.  But suing someone over copyright infringement may lead to money.  Fingers crossed!