Tips to Protect Your Online Course
By Kimra Major-Morris, top-rated intellectual property attorney
We are far from business as usual, in the wake of COVID-19, social distancing, and shelter in place orders. So much has changed, and business owners who have scrambled to put quick courses in place are wondering what they may have overlooked. Here are five tips to strengthen your business’s online course protections:
Make the definition of “authorized access” clear. If you have authorized your attendees to remotely log into your systems in order to perform course activities, be sure to include broad language about what it means to exceed that authorization. Consider whether the access is still authorized if the purpose of the access is not course related. Will the access still be authorized if the attendee performs the activities from someone else’s device? Not carefully defining what activities constitute authorized access (and exceeding authorized access) could prevent you from holding bad actors responsible for data scraping, unauthorized distribution, or other undesirable uses of your content.
Protect your videoconferences. Video apps such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and (now) Facebook Messenger Room have exploded in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic began. The sudden boom exposed Zoom’s security breaches during online school sessions, business meetings, and other online social gatherings. Be sure to password-protect your conferences. You may also want avoid publicly posting the link and implement a practice of advising invitees that access will be blocked after the meeting has begun.
Sign up for Google Alerts. Google Alerts is a free service that monitors the web for important key words. It’s a valuable tool for brand and content protection, because trademark and copyright owners can more quickly detect and enforce their rights against infringers. COVID-19 has increased the demand for online orders and intellectual property owners should be prepared to address copycats and unfair competitors. Consider engaging a watch service for a more comprehensive search tool than Google alerts offers.
Protect your online course content. Online courses are great marketing tools that, when done correctly, create valuable intellectual property assets for businesses. Submit your course to the Copyright Office for registration and be sure to require participants to agree to terms and conditions that will prevent them from unauthorized copying and sharing.
Protect the name of your online course. The strongest trademarks are arbitrary. Apple is a great example of this. There is no connection between apples and electronics, yet Apple is one of the world’s most recognizable brands. Remember this tip as you create the name for your online course. Rather than describe the course in the title, save the explanation and description for your marketing materials. If possible, thoroughly vet the name (with the assistance of a trademark attorney).
Protect your name or alias: You are the expert in charge of the course. You are the brand. Consider your legal name as a trademark in connection with the services you are providing. Paid speaking engagements, licensing deals, apparel lines, and other income streams are more secure when backed by federal trademark rights.
Check out my interview with Kimra
Kimra Major-Morris is a top-rated intellectual property attorney licensed to practice in Florida, a nationally published author on the subject of trademarks, and the television host of “Legal Connections” in conjunction with FAMU College of Law and Orange TV. Based in Central Florida as the Principal Attorney at Major-Morris Law, LLC, Kimra represents business owners, celebrity talent including professional athletes, international music artists, tv personalities, and entertainment industry executives. Inspired by her beginnings in the music industry as a recording artist, Kimra segued to a career in video production where she freelanced as a red carpet photographer for Black Entertainment Television (BET) and worked as an HBO video editor for almost five years prior to embarking on her legal career that was initially inspired by her desire to better serve the creative community. Kimra quickly realized the value of her services to business owners and now advocates for the registration, enforcement, and monetization of her clients’ most valuable business assets. Kimra’s unique experiences have heavily contributed to her entertainment network and celebrity client roster. Kimra is a sought-after speaker on the topic of brand protection. Her 2020 speaking calendar includes brand protection workshops for Microsoft’s Community Program and Events, The Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage Cruise, universities, and community outreach events.
As an award-winning author on the subject of intellectual property law, Kimra’s published articles and features appear in the American Bar Association’s Landslide Magazine, Forbes Magazine, Essence Magazine, The Huffington Post, Small Biz Trends, The Florida Bar and Orange County Bar publications. Kimra has been rated by Super Lawyers since 2015, a distinction held by no more than 5{ebcd35cf5766cd0c375df65173c9c25110347847dd7dcca8cde536d3b552be87} of Attorneys in Florida. She is “AV Preeminent” rated by Martindale-Hubbell® with the highest rating for her professional excellence and ethical standards in the legal community and was the 2019 Eagle Award Winner by the African American Chamber of Commerce of Central Florida for her support of black businesses in the Central Florida community, and has served the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program as a legal expert.
In 2012, Kimra was thrust into the national spotlight when she was retained by the parents of Trayvon Martin to register, protect, and license their intellectual property. Her intellectual property services for The Trayvon Martin Foundation helped to secure copyright and trademark registrations and licensing deals that fuel the Foundation’s support for the families of senseless gun violence victims .
A Past Chair of The Florida Bar’s Intellectual Property Committee, Kimra is a member of the Florida Bar Entertainment, Arts & Sports Law Section (EASL), the American Bar Association Entertainment & Sports Law Forum, and the Black Entertainment & Sports Law Association. Kimra earned her Bachelor of Science in Broadcast Communications at Florida International University and is a proud alumnus of Florida A&M College of Law. She was among the 62 Florida attorneys selected to Class II of the Florida Bar’s William Reece Smith, Jr. Leadership Academy.
For more information visit-https://majormorrislaw.com
