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Kelley Way has been creating blog posts across many topics of Estate Planning, Copyright and Trademark law. If you have a topic or question you’d like covered, reach out to Kelley Way here.
Three Legal Documents Everyone Should Have When They Turn Eighteen
There are a lot of things people say everyone should have when they turn eighteen. I’m sure many of those things are good recommendations. But I am talking specifically from an estate planning perspective. As an estate planner, I feel every adult ought to have these...
The Difference Between Branding Guidelines and a Trademark
I recently had someone ask whether having branding guidelines meant they had a trademark. Branding guidelines and trademarks are connected, but having one doesn’t necessarily mean you have the other. Let me explain the difference between branding guidelines and a...
When Should I Register a Trademark?
When should I register a trademark is an excellent question that, frankly, I wish more of my potential trademark clients would ask. Many people seem to think they must register their trademark before they even have a product on the market. In some cases, this is a...
Three Common Myths About Estate Planning
There are a lot of reasons people drag their feet on creating an estate plan. Many of my clients tell me they’ve meant to “get this done” for some time. But there are also people out there who think they don’t need anything, or at least not yet. Sometimes they’re...
What Happens if I Can’t Find the Will?
I have had several cases where my client had trouble locating the decedent's (a.k.a. deceased person's) Will and or trust. So naturally, this caused them some concern, and the question arose: What happens if I can't find the Will? Before you panic, there are some...
How Long Does Copyright Last?
I recently did a Q&A session with the delightful Fremont Area Writers Club, which had many thoughtful and interesting literary law questions. But, unfortunately, there was one question that we ran out of time for: How long does copyright last? It's a great...
Three Reasons a Trust Won’t Avoid Probate
For most people, one of the biggest reasons to have a trust is to avoid probate. For those who don’t know what probate is, probate is when the government oversees the administration of a deceased person's (or decedent’s) estate. Probate is time-consuming, expensive,...
De Minimis Use in Copyright Law
Can I Use This Song, Video, Picture, etc It If I Only Take a Little Bit? Also known as, let's talk about de minimus use in copyright law. Whenever I talk about copyright law, I inevitably get asked, "Is it okay if I only use _____% of a [song/movie/book]?” Sometimes...
What is Copyright?
To watch the video version of this article, please click here: kawaylaw.com/videos Unlike some estate planning terms, like per stirpes, most everyone has heard of copyright. However, there’s still some confusion regarding, what is copyright, and what does it protect?...