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Guest Post: Why Etsy Sellers & Mompreneurs Should Forget Trademarks & Focus on Copyrights?

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Etsy Copyright

Editors Note: We would like to welcome Matt Lowe who has kindly written this guest post about the differences between trademark and copyright and why one is more important than the other.

Matt is an in house counsel in Colorado and is the author of the An Etsy Seller’s Guide to Copyright Protection (for sale). Matt is a Graduate of Pepperdine University School of Law and lives in Salt Lake City, UT,  with his wife and 2 toddler boys (and a baby girl on the way).

As a business attorney, I’d be rich if I had a nickel for every time an Etsy Seller or Mompreneur asked me “Shouldn’t I trademark my Etsy Shop or Business Name?”

My answer is always a resounding “NO.” For an Etsy Seller or Mompreneur, it’s much more important and practical to focus on copyright protection than trademark protection.

Allow me to explain why copyright protection is more important than trademark protection:

A trademark protects a brand name (like Coca-Cola) from someone else (like Doug’s Cola) using the Coca-Cola name to create customer confusion to benefit Doug’s Cola.   For example, Doug’s Cola cannot use the Coca-Cola logo on its website to trick customers into thinking they are buying Coca-Cola.

But, Etsy Shops rarely gain the national brand awareness of Coca-Cola to justify the time and money required to register a trademark.

On the other hand, an Etsy Seller should understand copyright protection because virtually every product sold on Etsy is copyrightable.   A copyright protects any original, artistic, or literary work, so long as a few elements are satisfied (explained in Matt’s book).

As an Etsy Seller, a trademark only protects your one brand name, while copyright protection covers hundreds of different products in your Etsy Shop from unlawful piracy, copying, or duplication.

And if that’s not convincing enough, consider this: (i) A copyright is much cheaper than a trademark, (ii) You don’t have to register a copyright in order to actually copyright your works, and (iii) Copyright has an appealing little symbol ©, whereas the trademark symbol is blasé at best.

And that’s why I recommend that Etsy Sellers and Mompreneurs focus on Copyright Protection rather than Trademark Protection.

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Comments

  1. I just want to say, I have seen soooo many things that the sellers say you can’t use sell or something else from one of the things they have made. I have seen the same things made, just colot has changed, and they claim it as their own. Well a Log Canin quilt is a log Cabin quilt no matter who made it or what color it is. It has been around for a hundred years, so how can someone now make it and say it is theirs and copy write it?? That goes for everything else that has been around for many many years. I have beed very upset about this subject for as long as I have been going to all the craft sites. They have no right to copywrite a pattern that has been around as long as most of these patterns have. Gerry

  2. I am sooo with you Gerry on this “subject” of copyrighting everything on earth as if someone just came up with it!! “UGH!” the majority of what is out there are things that have been tweaked in some manner for forever, and I’ve been around for 65 years – crafting for that long as well – started when I was a child and watched my mother and neighbor-ladies. So I ain’t so gung-ho on your copyright “myth” unless IT IS SOMETHING truly original and NOT RE-INCARNATED!!! Dia

  3. Correct me if I am wrong, but this is my understanding:

    While I ask on my listings that my patterns not be used to create work for sale, I am aware that I cannot enforce that under copyright protections.

    I sell patterns, and when I sell one I retain the copyright to my design, so the buyer cannot make 100 copies of it and sell it in their shop. They can, however, recreate it themselves and sell it, as a pattern or as a finished product. Ethical, maybe not. Legal, yes.

    When I first started on Etsy, a potter asked me to take down a listing that had a phrase on it similar to, but not exactly, the phrase she used. I had not been aware of her shop before I made the pattern. Not knowing any better, I took it down, because I was still under the impression that Etsy was a friendly community where everyone wanted everyone to succeed. Now I know better. It is a friendly community, but we’re there to do business.

Have you read?

Learn about Comoros for Kids

One thing I didn’t expect when I started writing posts about the countries of the world was that there would be countries I haven’t heard of. But here we are with Comoros, an independent archipelago made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, which I had never heard of before it showed up on my list. So let’s see what we can learn about Comoros!

Comoros Basics

Comoros, or Union of the Comoros, is located in the Indian Ocean and is 641 square miles, or 1,659 square kilometers, making it the third-smallest African nation by area (there are other island groups that are smaller). 

The population is around 900,000, and the capital and largest city is Moroni. 

Comoros declared independence from France in 1975. One island that is considered part of the Comoro Islands voted against independence and is still an overseas department of France. 

The official state religion is Sunni Islam, and the official languages are Comorian, French and Arabic. It’s the only country that’s part of the Arab League that is completely in the Southern Hemisphere.

The islands were originally settled by Asian, Arab and African peoples before becoming part of the French empire. It’s a place of great political instability, which has had more than 20 coups or attempted coups. It is a presidential republic with a legislature. 

Here’s one the kids will like: legend has it the largest island was formed by a volcano that developed because a jinn dropped a jewel in the ocean. 

Comoros National Symbols

The Comoros flag bears four horizontal stripes in yellow, white, red and blue, with a green triangle on the left side featuring a white crescent moon and four stars. The four stripes and four stars represent the four main islands (including that one that voted against independence), while the green, star and crescent symbolize Islam. 

The national anthem is “Udzima wa ya Masiwa” (sometimes spelled different ways, but I’m following Wikipedia on this one), which means “Union of the Great Islands.” It was adopted in 1978 and also mentions that wayward island of Mayotte still claimed by the French. 

The national seal includes the same crescent and stars as on the flag, rotated on their side. This is on top of a stylized sun and surrounded by a pair of olive branches. The name of the country is written in French and Arabic, and the national motto (Unité, Solidarité, Développement, or Unity, Solidarity, Development) is written at the bottom. 

There’s not a lot of information available about the country, but the CIA Handbook tells me they do a lot of fishing, and the top agricultural products are bananas, coconuts, cassava, yams and maize. Perfume production is also a top industry. 

One website I found shows a picture of a Malagasy bulbul as the national bird. This songbird has a bright orange beak and is found on Madagascar and on some other nearby islands. It also suggests the Nectaropetalum zuluense, a small, five petaled white flower, is the national flower. 

Another video says the national flower is the ylang-ylang and the national animal is the mongoose lemur. It also says the national bird is the blue pigeon, but I couldn’t find any official word on any of this. The same video said the national fruit is the bungo fruit, which is sort of like a combination of an orange and pineapple with a hard orange shell. 

Comoros Activities for Kids

Learn more about the mongoose lemur, a critically endangered lemur that is indigenous to Madagascar and was introduced to Comoros. Another awesome animal from the island is the (also critically endangered) Livingstone’s fruit bat, also known as the Comoros flying fox.

Check out Mount Karthala, the still-active volcano that produced Grand Comore island (also known as Ngazidja). 

Comoros has a history of pirates and raiders, including a visit from the notorious Captain Kidd, whose crew took ill on the island and many are buried there. Learn more about Kidd and his supposed still-buried treasure from Britannica. 

Watch this video to learn about Moheli National Park, a remote marine sanctuary and tropical forest. 

Learn about the traditional dress and cultural activities of the islands on this page from Adore Comoros.

You’ll find some Comoros printables and other activities at Teachers Pay Teachers.

What many consider the national dish is madaba, made from cassava leaves and coconut milk. Since cassava can be hard to come by in many parts of the world, the recipes I’m finding use kale and/or collard greens instead. Another popular dish is ndrovi ya nazi, plantains cooked in coconut milk and served with fish. Epicurious has a recipe for the plantain part.

You can also try pulao, a meat and rice dish. I’m not sure what meat they would use but this recipe from This Muslim Girl Bakes uses lamb. There’s also mikatra siniya, a white cake made from rice flour and coconut, that is classic for celebrations in Comoros. Grab the recipe from 196 Flavors.