What Do IP and Entertainment Law Terms Mean? A Plain-English Glossary

Terms in this area often sound alike but mean different things. Our main copyright and trademark law page explains how the systems fit together. The definitions below follow the official text, such as the Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. 101), the Lanham Act (15 U.S.C. 1127) and USPTO rules.

How to Use This Glossary, Step by Step

1. Find the exact word in your letter, record or contract.
2. Note the source; it tells you which system the term belongs to.
3. Check the deadline words. Terms such as office action, notice of allowance and counter-notice come with dates.
4. Follow the link to the page that explains the process.

The Terms, A to Z

Abandonment

A trademark is abandoned when use stops with intent not to resume; three consecutive years of nonuse is prima facie evidence (15 U.S.C. 1127). See trademark nonuse.

Acquired Distinctiveness (Section 2(f))

A descriptive mark can register once it "has become distinctive of the applicant's goods in commerce"; five years of substantially exclusive and continuous use may be prima facie evidence (15 U.S.C. 1052(f)).

Allegation of Use

The filing in an intent-to-use application showing the mark is now in use: an amendment to allege use before approval for publication, or a statement of use after the notice of allowance (37 CFR 2.76, 2.88).

Assignment

A transfer of ownership. Trademarks are assigned with their goodwill; an intent-to-use application generally cannot be assigned before use is alleged, except to an ongoing successor business (15 U.S.C. 1060). See assigning an application.

Blanket License

A license covering a whole catalog. Under 17 U.S.C. 115(d), digital music providers take a statutory blanket license for downloads and interactive streams, administered by The MLC.

Cancellation

A TTAB proceeding to remove a registration; most grounds expire five years after registration, but genericness and abandonment can be raised at any time (15 U.S.C. 1064). See cancellation.

Chain of Title

The documents showing how ownership passed from the creator to the current owner. Copyright transfers can be recorded with the Copyright Office (17 U.S.C. 205). See film chain of title.

Content ID Claim

On YouTube, an automatic claim when an upload matches material in its Content ID system; it is not a copyright strike (YouTube Help). See claims versus strikes.

Copyright

Protection for "original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression" (17 U.S.C. 102(a)), with exclusive rights to reproduce, adapt, distribute, perform and display the work (106). See copyright basics.

Copyright Claims Board (CCB)

A voluntary Copyright Office forum for copyright disputes up to $30,000 total (CCB FAQ; 17 U.S.C. 1504). See the CCB.

Copyright Management Information (CMI)

Identifying information conveyed with a work, such as its title, author, owner, notice and terms of use (17 U.S.C. 1202(c)). See removing credits.

Copyright Notice

The ©, "Copyright" or "Copr.", plus the year of first publication and the owner's name (17 U.S.C. 401(b)). Notice is optional for works published on or after March 1, 1989 (Circular 3). See the copyright notice.

Copyright Strike

On YouTube, a strike means content was removed after a legal copyright removal request (YouTube Help).

Counter-Notice

A user's written reply to a takedown (17 U.S.C. 512(g)(3)); to keep its safe harbor, the provider restores the material in 10 to 14 business days unless told a lawsuit was filed (512(g)(2)(C)). See counter-notices.

Counterfeit Mark

"A spurious mark which is identical with, or substantially indistinguishable from, a registered mark" (15 U.S.C. 1127). See counterfeit sellers.

Derivative Work

"A work based upon one or more preexisting works," such as a translation, musical arrangement or sound recording. Its copyright covers only the new material (17 U.S.C. 101, 103(b)).

Descriptive Mark

A mark that merely describes the goods or services; it is refused on the Principal Register unless it has acquired distinctiveness (15 U.S.C. 1052(e)(1), (f)). See descriptive refusals.

DMCA Designated Agent

The contact a provider names, on its site and with the Copyright Office, to receive takedown notices (17 U.S.C. 512(c)(2)).

DMCA Takedown Notice

A written notice to a designated agent with the elements listed in 17 U.S.C. 512(c)(3)(A). See takedown notices.

Exclusive License

A license to one licensee alone; legally a "transfer of copyright ownership" that needs a signed writing (17 U.S.C. 101, 204(a)). See exclusive licensees.

Expungement

A USPTO proceeding to remove goods or services for which a registered mark "has never been used in commerce" (15 U.S.C. 1066a).

Failure to Function

A refusal when the matter does not identify the applicant's goods or services and their source, usually judged from the specimen (TMEP 1202). See slogans and hashtags.

Fair Use

A use that is "not an infringement of copyright," weighed on four factors: purpose, nature of the work, amount used and market effect (17 U.S.C. 107). See reaction videos.

First Action

The examining attorney's first decision on an application: approval for publication, or an office action (USPTO application timeline).

Incontestability (Section 15)

After five consecutive years of continuous use following registration, an owner may file an affidavit that makes the right to use the mark incontestable, subject to exceptions (15 U.S.C. 1065).

Intent to Use (Section 1(b))

An application based on "a bona fide intention" to use the mark in commerce; registration requires a later allegation of use (15 U.S.C. 1051(b), (d)). See intent to use.

Joint Work

A work by two or more authors who intend their contributions to merge "into inseparable or interdependent parts of a unitary whole"; the authors are co-owners (17 U.S.C. 101, 201(a)). See co-authored books.

Letter of Protest

Objective evidence a third party submits for the examining attorney to consider, filed no later than 30 days after publication (37 CFR 2.149). See letters of protest.

Likelihood of Confusion

Confusingly similar marks on related goods or services, so consumers may assume one source; the USPTO calls it "the most common reason for refusing registration" (15 U.S.C. 1052(d)). See confusion refusals.

Madrid Protocol

A treaty that lets an owner file one application to seek registration in many countries (USPTO). See Madrid filings.

Master Use License

Permission from a recording's owner to use it in a film, show, game or video; the Copyright Office says such uses need licenses from both the song and recording owners (Copyright and the Music Marketplace, 2015).

Mechanical License

Permission to make and distribute phonorecords of a song; for nondramatic musical works it is available as a compulsory license (17 U.S.C. 115(a)). See mechanical rates.

MLC (Mechanical Licensing Collective)

The collective that administers the blanket license and collects and distributes digital mechanical royalties (17 U.S.C. 115(d)(3)). See MLC payments.

Notice of Allowance

Issued in an intent-to-use application after the opposition period. It is not a registration; the statement of use is due within six months unless extended (USPTO 1(b) timeline; 15 U.S.C. 1051(d)).

Office Action

A letter from the examining attorney explaining refusals or requirements, generally due within three months, extendable once by three months for a fee (37 CFR 2.62). See missed deadlines.

Opposition

A TTAB proceeding by anyone who believes a registration would damage them, filed within 30 days after publication or an extension (15 U.S.C. 1063(a)). See the opposition process.

Performing Rights Organization (PRO)

The Act's "performing rights society": an entity that licenses public performance of nondramatic musical works for their copyright owners (17 U.S.C. 101). See joining a PRO.

Petition to Revive

A request to restore an application abandoned for a missed response when the delay was unintentional, generally due within two months of the notice of abandonment (37 CFR 2.66).

Phonorecord

A material object fixing sounds, other than sounds accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work (17 U.S.C. 101).

Principal Register

The main federal trademark register, which carries benefits such as nationwide constructive use and possible incontestability (15 U.S.C. 1057(c), 1065).

Priority

The earlier right. An application that registers on the Principal Register counts as nationwide constructive use from its filing date, with exceptions for earlier users (15 U.S.C. 1057(c)). See filing disputes.

Publication (Trademark)

Approval of a mark for the USPTO's weekly Trademark Official Gazette, which opens the 30-day opposition period (15 U.S.C. 1062(a), 1063(a)).

Reexamination

A USPTO proceeding to remove goods or services for which a registered mark was not in use on or before the relevant date (15 U.S.C. 1066b).

Registration Symbol (®)

Notice that a mark is federally registered. Without notice, a registrant may not recover profits or damages unless the defendant had actual notice (15 U.S.C. 1111). See TM versus ®.

Right of Publicity

A state-law right against commercial use of a person's identity, such as name or likeness; it is not part of federal copyright (Copyright Office moral rights report, 2019). See Georgia publicity law.

Safe Harbor

The DMCA's limits on a provider's liability for user-posted material, if conditions such as a designated agent and prompt removal on notice are met (17 U.S.C. 512(c)). See repeat infringer policies.

Section 8 Declaration

A filing showing the mark is still in use, due in the year before the sixth anniversary of registration and with each 10-year renewal; without it the registration is canceled (15 U.S.C. 1058).

Section 9 Renewal

Renewal for another 10 years, filed within the year before each 10-year period ends or a six-month grace period with a surcharge (15 U.S.C. 1059). See maintenance deadlines.

Sound Recording

A work resulting from the fixation of a series of sounds, other than sounds accompanying an audiovisual work; it is separate from the song (17 U.S.C. 101; Circular 56A). See registering a song.

SoundExchange

The collective designated by the Copyright Royalty Judges to distribute certain statutory digital performance royalties to recording owners and performers (37 CFR 380.4). See SoundExchange royalties.

Specimen

A real example showing the mark as actually used in commerce, one per class, filed with a use-based application or an allegation of use (37 CFR 2.56). See specimen refusals.

Split Sheet

A co-writers' written agreement on who wrote a song and each share; a private contract, not a government form. See ownership disputes.

Standard Character Mark

A mark claimed as words, letters or numbers without any particular font style, size or color (37 CFR 2.52(a)). See protecting a logo.

Statement of Use

The intent-to-use filing, due within six months after the notice of allowance or an extension, verifying use and giving the first use date (15 U.S.C. 1051(d); 37 CFR 2.88).

Statutory Damages

Damages set by statute instead of proven losses: $750 to $30,000 per work for copyright, up to $150,000 if willful (17 U.S.C. 504(c)); counterfeiting has its own ranges (15 U.S.C. 1117(c)). See copyright damages.

Supplemental Register

A second federal register for marks capable of distinguishing goods or services but not registrable on the Principal Register, if in lawful use (15 U.S.C. 1091).

Sync License

Permission to use music "in timed relation" to visual content; it is negotiated, not compulsory (Copyright and the Music Marketplace, 2015). See sync licenses.

Termination Right (Section 203)

An author's right to end a transfer or license made on or after January 1, 1978, during a five-year window starting 35 years after the grant; works made for hire are excluded (17 U.S.C. 203). See termination rights.

Trademark

A word, phrase, symbol, design or combination that identifies the source of goods; a service mark does the same for services (USPTO).

TSDR

The USPTO's Trademark Status and Document Retrieval system, searched by serial or registration number (USPTO). See status meanings.

TTAB

The Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, a USPTO tribunal that decides only the right to register, not the right to use or infringement (TBMP 102.01).

Use in Commerce

"The bona fide use of a mark in the ordinary course of trade, and not made merely to reserve a right in a mark" (15 U.S.C. 1127).

Work Made for Hire

A work by an employee within the scope of employment, or a commissioned work in a listed category with a signed written agreement; the hiring party is the author (17 U.S.C. 101, 201(b)). See work for hire.

A Worked Example

Common Mistakes

• TM versus ®. The registration symbol is for registered marks (15 U.S.C. 1111).
• Claim versus strike. A Content ID claim and a copyright strike are different platform events.
• License versus assignment. A license gives permission; an assignment transfers ownership.
• Notice versus registration. A © notice does not register anything with the Copyright Office.
• Notice of allowance versus registration. An allowed application still needs a statement of use.
• Song versus recording. A musical work and a sound recording are separate copyrights.

What to Do This Week

1. Pull up your application or registration in TSDR.
2. Mark every deadline term you see on a calendar.
3. List which of your works are registered with the Copyright Office.
4. Check that your licenses say whether they are exclusive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is a Trademark Different From a Copyright?

Yes. A trademark identifies the source of goods or services; a copyright protects original creative expression.

What Is the Difference Between Expungement and Reexamination?

Expungement targets goods or services never used; reexamination targets use that had not begun by the relevant date (15 U.S.C. 1066a, 1066b).

Is a PRO the Same as The MLC?

No. PROs license public performances; The MLC administers the blanket mechanical license for digital audio uses.

Does Fair Use Mean Free to Use?

Only when the four factors support it in that particular case (17 U.S.C. 107).

What Does "Abandoned" Mean in TSDR?

It can mean the application lapsed, for example after a missed response. A petition to revive may be available if the delay was unintentional (37 CFR 2.66).

Zala IP Law helps creators and businesses with trademark filings, copyright registration and enforcement, and entertainment contracts for clients across the United States and internationally. If a term in a letter or contract is holding you up, request a consultation or call 404-313-1701, and bring the document.