TUCKER LAW / COPYRIGHT COUNSEL

Your code has a development history. Your application should account for it.

A PLAN FOR YOUR COPYRIGHTS

Understand what your software copyright can protect.

A software product may combine employee work, contractor contributions, licensed components, and multiple releases. We help separate the original material being claimed from preexisting or third-party code.

Copyright protects eligible expression in a program, rather than its underlying ideas, logic, or methods. Deposit requirements deserve particular care when source code contains trade secrets.

HOW WE HELP

Copyright guidance for your next step.

Define the version

Identify the release, new authorship, and previously developed material that should be addressed in the application.

Review contributions

Look at employee and contractor agreements alongside third-party components and the chain of ownership.

Prepare the deposit

Evaluate applicable code-deposit requirements and available approaches for material containing trade secrets.

PREPARE FOR A PRODUCTIVE CONVERSATION

Bring the work.
Bring the context.

A few organized records can help us understand the issue and identify what needs further attention.

Please avoid sending confidential details through the initial contact form.

A description of the program and relevant release history

Developer agreements and third-party component information

Publication dates and identification of sensitive code

Matthew Sean Tucker, intellectual property attorney

MEET YOUR IP ATTORNEY

Legal judgment.
An engineer’s perspective.

Matthew Sean Tucker

Matthew is a registered patent attorney and an electrical engineer. His intellectual property practice includes trademarks, copyrights, patent prosecution, and litigation.

He helps clients connect the legal questions to the business, creative, and technical details behind them.

Meet Matthew

COMMON QUESTIONS

Make an informed next move.

Does a software registration protect functionality?

Copyright addresses copyrightable expression in the program. It does not provide ownership of the underlying idea, algorithm, or method of operation.

Must all source code be submitted?

The deposit rules vary with the application and circumstances. We review the applicable requirements before deciding what material to submit.

Should updates be reviewed separately?

New versions may contain new authorship worth registering. We can review what changed and how earlier versions were treated.

Further reading: Copyright Office: computer program registration.

CONNECTED COPYRIGHT SERVICES

Keep the full picture in view.

MAKE THE NEXT MOVE WITH CLARITY

Let’s talk about your copyright matter.

Tell us about the work, the concern, and what you want to accomplish.