kO′ch VA adj. 1. a highly specialized and niched virtual
assistant who is in tune with their coaching clients and customizes solutions based upon their individual needs and goals 2. differs from a general virtual assistant as they only partner with members of the coaching industry [syn: 
Archive for Copyright
Intellectual Property: What You Should Know
Posted by: | CommentsModern technology has made it so much easier to get your materials out there. You can share ideas and pictures with the whole world and connect with the world at large. But just as it’s easier to share, it’s also easier to steal. That’s why it’s important to know the laws and protect yourself.
Before we talk about the laws behind intellectual property, we should probably talk about what intellectual property is. Intellectual property is anything that comes out of your head, whether an idea, writing, art, or a picture.
Just because someone can reproduce what you make doesn’t mean it’s legal for them to do so. Intellectual property can usually be divided into four categories: patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets.
While you’re likely heard all these terms, here’s a quick breakdown of exactly what they mean.
- Copyright. This protects items that are produced by the imagination, but are tangible, like books and songs. To be protected, you must apply for a copyright, which requires you to fill out forms, pay a fee, and provide a copy. You may be protected through the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). You can learn more about it on Wikipedia or here. A current copyright lasts 78 years after the author’s death. Courts can impose severe financial penalties if a copyright is violated.
- Trademark. This protects names and logos that identify a specific brand. They keep people from getting confused between two products. While many things can be trademarked, general terms and images cannot. You can apply for local trademark protection through your state, but you can get better protection federally.
- Patent. These are used to protect inventions and processes that someone creates. The idea is that they reveal how to make the product, and the government prevents other people from making it in exchange. A patent lasts generally 20 years, but it can also take a long time to get one. The application process is more extensive than the others and should include a detailed description of how to make the item. A patent also gives you the ability to sell the right to produce the item you’ve patented.
- Trade Secrets. These are things a business uses that it needs to keep secret in order to succeed. It might be a secret recipe or how a product is made. Whether or not something can be protected as a trade secret is decided in court and is based on a variety of factors, but most importantly, whether something is public knowledge or not. There isn’t a time limit to this kind of protection, but it can be voided if information is revealed to others.
Just because something fits into one category, doesn’t mean it can’t fit into another. They often overlap, which can make it more difficult to protect yourself.
Just because a law exists, doesn’t mean that there won’t be people out there who will not break them. Unfortunately, the lines can get even more blurred when your business is online. Knowing your rights is the first step and then taking appropriate measures to protect your content will lead you in the right direction.
Online Int’l Virtual Assistants Convention – Register Today
Posted by: | CommentsTime is running out! Only one week remains to order passes to the 35+ seminars being conduced during the 3rd annual OIVAC.
This year, we’ve scheduled seminars covering topics everyone is asking questions about and discussing on list servs and forums. Here’s an opportunity to “ask the experts” and obtain informative answers from experienced VAs as well as professionals outside the industry that walk the talk every day, and are willing to share their knowledge, experience and skills with you.
Don’t miss this opportunity to connect with expert resources, all from the comfort of home and your desktop or laptop computer. The information and training they share may help clarify a situation, open a door to new business, gain more clients and increase profits. To have a seat in these educational sessions, you must register soon. The last day to register is Tuesday, May 13, 2008 at 12 midnight EDT ( US).
This year’s schedule includes topics any virtual business can benefit from. Visit the Speakers Profile page for details about each session.
Jonathan Bailey
Dealing with Plagiarism: A Realistic Guide to Fighting Content Theft
Laurie Dart
Increase Your* Income by Establishing Yourself as an Expert with Article Marketing
Annie Jennings
Create A Website To Showcase Your Talent, Land BIG New Clients & Build A Powerful Community
Jamie Lee Mann
The Importance of Follow-up
Becki Noles
Creating Multiple Streams of Income: Affiliate and Internet Marketing in a Nutshell
Dale Noles
Target Markets and Niches: The #1 Success Ingredients
Victoria Santiago
How To Make Your Home Based Business Sound Like A Fortune 500 Company
Tawnya Sutherland
SEO, Let’s Rank It!
Yvonne Weld
Setting Up Processes for Your Business
Sharon Williams
Be Your Own Brand and Stand Out from the Crowd
OIVAC…it’s not just for Virtual Assistants anymore!!
Hope to see you there,
Becki
PS – Don’t forget registration ends Tuesday, May 13th!
Copyright Infringement – It’s Not OK
Posted by: | CommentsYamisi Daniel has written a great blog post about copyright infringement called “If It’s Not Yours…Don’t Take It!” Here is an excerpt:
Don’t take web copy, photos and various other items from someone else’s web site. Seems like a pretty basic rule to follow, but for some people…well…I guess it isn’t. You have to know it’s wrong. Thanks to technology like Copyscape. It can be pretty easy to find out if you are a victim of web content theft. You don’t have to steal web content or anything else for that matter. There are other avenues one can take. For example, if you aren’t the greatest writer hire someone to write your web content for you. If you would like to use a picture, why not contact the owner and ask for their permission to use it. Don’t let your fear of rejection stop you from doing the right thing. They may in fact grant your request. Think about the consequences of your actions! Your victim has a host of resources they can take against you. It does not have to be this way. Sure their is a talent to writing web content and not everyone has it. If you fit into this category…I’ve already given my advice on this matter, but here it is again…Hire someone to do it for you. If you are a good writer…give yourself the time you need to write, edit and rewrite the content until you get it just write. Will it take days, weeks or months? Perhaps it will. But it will be your words, your time, your effort. Now ask yourself…How would you feel if someone just came along and took it? READ MORE…
Along the same lines…one of THE BEST explanations on copyright infringement I have found was written by Brad Templeton called “10 Big Myths about copyright explained“.
Over the years I have had numerous virtual assistants, WAHMs, etc. take steal information from my sites. If they would have asked permission first, I probably would have said yes. But since they did not, I had to deal with it myself or my attorney had to get involved.
Moral of the story….when you are creating copy for a website, writing an article or creating an info product and you have to ask yourself, “should I use this information?” The answer probably is “no.” But you know, it doesn’t hurt to ask…you may be pleasantly surprised by the reply.
Becki 
The Top 5 Law of Attraction Tips
Posted by: | CommentsBy: Jaz Lai
Using the Law of Attraction in your life does not need to be hard, and it doesn’t have to cost a lot. The truth is that there are a large number of things that you can begin to do yourself that will have a positive impact on your life. Here are five of the top Law of Attraction tactics that will enable you to get the best out of your life.
Tip #1 – Positive Attitude – One of the simplest methods that you can improve the quality of your using the Law of Attraction is to always maintain a positive outlook. When you have a positive attitude to life, there is a good chance that it will attract other positive people, effects, and transformations in your life. Even if events in your life do not seem particularly goo, maintaining a positive outlook can be lead to the transformation that you want. In reality, your positive outlook is getting you ready for the time that things improve. Always seeing the best in something, such as a less than perfect job, can enable you to be better placed in life, which leads the way for positive events to occur.
Tip #2 – Visualization – Another essential technique is to make a mental picture. It is vital that you actually picture where you want to be in your life. Picture yourself in a higher job, driving a more expensive car, being healthier financially, and you will then have the ability to draw what you need to enable those pictures to come to fruition. You can never really reach the position that you yearn for unless you have a definite idea of the direction you are taking, and making the effort to continuously keep in mind where you see yourself being can be helpful in discovering where you want to be, as well as helping you to reach your goal.
Tip #3 – Affirmations – Often, the word affirmation conjures up images of how other people can confirm your wants and needs, but when it is taken in the perspective of the Law of Attraction, affirmations are really down to you. You have to begin putting down in writing what you want, and then keep saying them to yourself repeatedly. The more often you say them aloud and confirm your dreams, the likelier it is that they will come true.
Tip #4 – Always Keep Your Eye on Your Goal – Maintaining a focus on your ambitions is an essential technique too when you are considering the Law of Attraction. You do not want to be never want to be sidetracked by the situations that happen in your life, and you need to keep your eye on the tings that you want to accomplish. The more focused you are on your ambitions, the greater the likelihood that you will achieve them.
Tip #5 – Move Forward – You can put into place as many plans as you like in your life, but if you do not really get going on anything, they will all amount to nothing. As soon as you begin to have positive thoughts, picture where you would like to be, use affirmations, and keep focused on your ambitions, then you are ready to begin progressing towards your goal. It doesn’t matter if you achieve large or small steps, but it is essential that you are always progressing forwards and not just staying in one place.
Every one of these strategies is important, and if you use them together they will undoubtedly have astonishing effects on your life. Begin to use these Law of Attraction techniques and good things will certainly happen.
About the Author
Discover the “Secrets” that have been left out of The Secret DVD. Download your Attraction Accelerator free report here. Further recommended Self-Improvement and Personal Growth resources – http://www.WealthAttractionBlog.com
Copyright Infringement Strikes Again
Posted by: | CommentsOn my soapbox as it pertains to Virtual Assistants:
During my first couple of copyright escapades I came across this great site: http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html.
Pay special attention to this section (excerpted from http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html):
“If I make up my own stories, but base them on another work, my new work belongs to me.”
False. U.S. Copyright law is quite explicit that the making of what are called “derivative works” — works based or derived from another copyrighted work — is the exclusive province of the owner of the original work. This is true even though the making of these new works is a highly creative process. If you write a story using settings or characters from somebody else’s work, you need that author’s permission.
For some additional light reading (I am being facetious) you can read all about the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works at: http://www.law.cornell.edu/treaties/berne/overview.html and the Universal Copyright Convention at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Copyright_Convention.
The argument that there are only so many ways that you can describe a Virtual Assistant is getting old. If you use the IVAA definition give them credit, if you use Virtual Accuracy’s definition give them credit, etc. However, always ask the individual organization or VA to use their definition prior to putting it on your site. Don’t plagiarize another person’s definition and claim it as your own.
Becki
