More of this Feature • Chapter 1 • Chapter 2 • Chapter 3 • Chapter 4 • Chapter 5 • Chapter 6 • Chapter 7 • Chapter 8 • Chapter 9 • Chapter 10 • Chapter 11 • Chapter 12 • Chapter 13 • Chapter 14

• Join the Discussion Discuss in the Forum

Related Resources • Want To Work On The Radio? • Back On The Air - And Now It's Personal • Radio Morning Man Terminology • So, You Wanna Work In Radio? • Confessions of a Morning DJ • The Radio DJ FAQ • How Do I Break Into Radio? • You Don't Have To Be On The Air To Be In Radio • Be A DJ: Radio Jobs Available

You didn't know your showprep needed to be protected, did you? Not many folks really give this much thought. But, I have always been extremely protective of the sources I "discover" for show prep. For the sake of this chapter, I am generally referring to written content, usually found through the World Wide Web, on the Internet, or emailed to you by either a listener, a website or a newsletter/mailing list provider.

Sharing

First rule: don't share. I know this is against everything you have probably been told. If you belong to an online prep sharing service where you have to contribute weekly reports, you are always encouraged to share. Okay, let me be more specific: Don't Share Your Great Stuff.

Let's say you have an online source of material that really makes a difference in your showprep. If you "share" it with a market exclusive prep service, it may not get back to your competitor right away, but trust me: once the "genie is out of the bottle", you can't put it back in. Once you tell your online prep service, at least one guy in half the markets in America now know about your gem. How long do you think it will take for those guys to share with THEIR friends outside of your service? Your competition is going to learn about your prep jewel eventually.

Service Marks

Consider a Service Mark for benchmark bits you have named which are original to your show. You can't copyright material that's not yours (such as goofy news stories that you grab from the Associated Press) but you CAN protect whatever you call it! According to the United United States federal government,

A service mark is any word, name, symbol, device, or any combination, used, or intended to be used, in commerce, to identify and distinguish the services of one provider from services provided by others, and to indicate the source of the services.

So, why in the world would you ever need a Service Mark on the name of a bit? Well, let's say your competitor starts doing a similar bit with the same name. Can you do anything to stop him?

Nope.

Not unless you have Service Marked the name of your bit. What if you are fired tomorrow and go across the street to a former competitor. What is to stop your former station from using your best bit, name and all, even after you leave?

Nothing. Unless you, personally, have Service Marked it.

What I'm suggesting here is that YOU spend the $30 or $40 dollars to get a state Service Mark for your most important bit. It's not enough to ask your station to get the Service Mark because then, they will own it - not you - and that doesn't protect you or your bit.

You can apply for federal or state service marks. Fees for state Service Marks are usually much less than the federal cost, which is $335 dollars.

For more detailed information, refer to this web pages

Basic Facts About Trademarks http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/doc/basic/

Frequently Asked Questions About Trademarks http://www.uspto.gov/web/offices/tac/tmfaq.htm#DefineTrademark