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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.
When Can I Use Someone Else’s Material in My Writing?
One of the questions I hear most frequently from authors is: When can I use someone else’s copyrighted material in my own work?[1] Stories can’t be written in a vacuum, and many of the sources authors would like to draw on are copyrighted. As many copyright owners are...
When Should I Update My Estate Plan?
Let’s face it, people don’t like to think about their estate plans. Most Americans don’t even have a basic will. Those who have a complete estate plan – will, trust(s), power of attorney and health care directive – can congratulate themselves on being ahead of the...
Trusts or LLCs – Which is Better?
Trusts and corporations are valuable estate planning tools. Both serve as a way to keep an estate out of probate, because both are considered separate entities under the law. Anything they own is not owned by you, therefore it is not part of the estate (for probate...
What Is a Trademark?
People are very good at identifying trademarks, and can confidently name or point out any number of famous marks. Ask those same people what a trademark is, or why we have trademarks, and they get much less confident. So let’s start from the top and break it down into...
Who Needs an Estate Plan?
Technically, everyone has an estate plan. If you haven’t created your own, then the government has one ready and waiting for you - it’s called the Probate Code. While the Probate Code might sound similar to the Pirate’s Code, they really only have one thing in common:...
What Is An Estate Plan?
Many people are confused when they mention a need for a will or trust and are referred to an estate planning attorney. What’s the connection? What does “estate planning” mean anyway? Let’s start with the fundamentals. Your “estate” is everything you own – your money,...
What Rights Do I Have Under Copyright Law?
In my last post on copyrights, I talked about what a copyright is. In this post, I’ll be talking about what a copyright does, i.e. what rights a copyright owner has to his or her work. A copyright grants its owner six very specific and exclusive rights: Right of...
Tax Reform 2018 – How Does This Affect My Estate Planning?
As you very likely already know, Congress passed the Tax Cut and Jobs Act late last year, and the Act is now in effect. There were quite a number of changes in the tax law, but since I’m an estate planner, I will be focusing on the changes that affect people’s estate...
What Is a Copyright?
There’s a bit of confusion over what exactly a copyright is. Here’s a brief explanation of how the government defines a copyright. According to the 1976 Copyright Act, a copyright “subsists…in original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of expression.”...