In the interest of adding some more substantial content to this blog, I thought I would present a tutorial series. I have already made reference to issues in intellectual property law, but some of my readers might not be familiar with the basics (let along the intricacies) of intellectual property in the US. To that end, this post will be the first in a series of tutorials on intellectual property. Let's begin with a taxonomy of intellectual property. US intellectual property law recognizes four types of intellectual property. Copyright Copyright concerns creative works fixed in a tangible medium of expression, including musical works, novels, poems, paintings, sculptures, etc. Since it concerns creative media, copyright is likely the form of intellectual property that people have encountered most. Copyright originated as a way to censor seditious or heretical publishers. Once enshrined in British law, from which the American statutes take their original form, copyright allo...