Monday, January 7, 2008

Understanding Copyright
When you create original content, it is automatically copyrighted, but you should know about copyrights and how to specifically mark your work. Also, establishing the date of creation is very important.
The basis for copyright law in the USA is found in the United States Constitution in Article 1, Section 8, Clause 8 as follows:
To promote the Progress of Science and useful Arts, by securing for limited Times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive Right to their respective Writings and Discoveries.
The first copyright law was the Copyright Act of 1790. We are currently operating under the Copyright of 1976 as amended.
Copyrights have a term of the life of the author plus 70 years. We Boomers can thank Sonny Bono (Sonny and Cher) for this. The Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998--alternatively known as the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act set the current term of copyrights.
When you write original content, it is copyrighted even if you do not specify "Copyright" or use the "circle C" © copyright symbol.
However, it is best to declare your works are copyrighted. The proper way to do this is "Copyright © (Date of first Creation) ( Name of author).
The best way to approach using any information that you have not created yourself is to consider that it is copyrighted.
To copyright an item, you must establish a dated record of some type when you first created the item so you can prove the date of the copyright if someone challenges you. The earliest date will get the copyright. Before computers, a technique was to write the piece and have it notarized or witnessed. Another technique was to enclose the item in an envelope and mail it to yourself. The postmark established the date.
Now we have computers that record the date of file creation for anything we record on them. This date becomes the date of the copyright.
All you have to do to copyright something is to create it and follow the previously specified procedure by specifying "Copyright © (Date of first Creation) ( Name of author)" Use of the copyright symbol is not required.
The following procedure is for MS Word: To insert the copyright symbol, click Insert on the tool bar, Click Symbol on the dropdown and you will be presented a table of all kinds of symbols. Highlight the "circle C" and click the Insert button and the © will appear where your cursor is located. You will have to click on the Close button to close the Symbol box.
There, that was easy. Now start creating content on which you can proudly hang that "circle C".
Copyright 2006 John Howe, Inc.
John V. W. Howe is an entrepreneur, author, inventor, patent holder, husband, father, and grandfather. He has been involved in entrepreneurial activities for over 40 years. He founded www.boomer-ezine.com and www.retirement-jobs-online.com to help Boomers (baby boomers) become entrepreneurs when they retire.


The Business Of Risk
Today, we see a number of risks associated with businesses of all sizes, ranging from identity theft, embezzlement, natural disasters, personal injury, fraud, vendor failure, taxes, finances, and more. Because of the increasing number and type of business risks, companies have had to make some major adjustments in overall operations, management, and strategy. When you couple risks with competition, you can see that it is imperative every company have a solid plan in place for protection and success.
One of the most important aspects of strategy is ensuring a solid risk management team is in place. These individuals would hold the responsibility of not just identifying potential risk but also creating and implementing sound processes, techniques, or technologies for prevention and/or correction. The risk management team however will not work in isolation but in tandem with other key stakeholders, such as department heads and the Executive team. Having a winning risk strategy is going to give your business the foundation on which to build a strong, competitive company but also a business that employees and clients trust.
What is the key to creating such a risk strategy? For one thing, you want to be productive but not make quick decisions. Unfortunately, we have seen many larger corporations that have put “quick fixes” into place, only to find they end up with a laundry list of new problems. Yes, it is essential that a good plan be developed as quickly as possible but make sure the plans being considered are not just short term fixes but will be beneficial long-term. While a risk management team can identify potential risk events, the team must work in conjunction with the organization so that strategies are aligned with the business goals. In essence, the best risk strategy is one component of the overall business strategy.
In addition, you need to review your company inside and out, top to bottom, to determine where risks lie. For example, missing payment on taxes can be an extremely costly mistake, sometimes upwards of $10,000 or more. In this instance, there would be a number of things to consider. Is the individual heading up the tax department qualified? What type of tracking system is being used? Is the department short-handed? Is the person in the mailroom delivering mail on time? These and other possibilities exist, which is where a risk management team would help. Once the problem area or potential risk is isolated, then changes could be made accordingly.
Another factor that unfortunately, is sometimes overlooked is the client. Obviously, if you are going to run a profitable business, you need satisfied customers. Perhaps there are areas of service or product where customers are not happy but because no means of communication or input is in place, you have no idea. Therefore, you might think about sending out customer surveys, trying to find any weaknesses that need to be strengthened. It is imperative that you know your customers and that those customers are so satisfied with what you offer so they will not look elsewhere.
Things happen in businesses and sadly, many great companies have gone under because of lack of risk management and/or strategy. Enron, is only one of many examples in which a failure to manage risk or even identify risk ruined a company. Another often cited example is Barings Bank which was one of the most respected merchant banks in the United Kingdom. The company which held $900 million in capital was bankrupted due the actions of one trader. The losses and subsequent bankruptcy could have been avoided if internal controls had been in place. There are countless other global examples of the consequences of not identifying risk events.
While federal regulations such as Sarbanes-Oxley have mandated corporate governance and controls, managing risk is simply good business. Identifying risk events and formulating response strategies enable the organization to successfully execute its objectives.


Recalibrating Professional Service Provider Relationships
Calibration: “The act of checking or adjusting (by comparison with a standard) the accuracy of a measuring instrument…” - English dictionary
Most people associate “calibration” with instruments such as a thermostat or police radar gun. We calibrate or check to ensure that the instrument has retained absolute accuracy of performance. However, we also see an extension of this word as “recalibration” and its association with the business world, specifically with service provider relationships. Typically, recalibration involves starting with a failure of a particular model or relationship, identifying the problem, and fixing or strengthening it. Just as with calibration, recalibration in business can make or break a company.
Today, many companies, small and large, are turning to outsourcing, which enables the organization to be more efficient and cost effective. Global outsourcing has become a controversial subject, and now plays a strong role in our economy. For small or start-up companies, outsourcing provides a way to build a successful business on a budget. A one-man office could take a portion of the operations, outsource them for a fraction of the cost of hiring someone full-time, and begin to establish that company. For large companies, outsourcing provides the opportunity to save money, thus increasing the bottom line and making shareholders happy. Additionally, outsourcing can enable penetration into new markets that would not be possible without the addition of local “partners”.
In choosing to outsource, companies must fully evaluate their business needs, how outsourcing will contribute to the organization and the value of the service being outsourced. Many organizations outsource activities and functions which are not their core competencies. In example, a technology firm with proprietary software might outsource content development for their marketing collateral. However, a firm that markets service as one of their core competencies would likely refrain from outsourcing their customer call center.
Outsourcing Legal activities have been a commonplace practice for many years. Even firms with in-house counsel outsource certain activities to outside counsel. In any area of business, the goal of outsourcing is to create greater operating efficiencies and ensure that internal teams are free to work on critical value tasks.
While outsourcing legal activities is not a new practice the way in which those relationships are managed has changed. As the practice of outsourcing has expanded businesses have begun to view these outside contractors in a different light. Once viewed as “work-for-hire” those that perform outsourced work are now viewed as essential business partners, or an extension of the core work force. Outsourced law firms should be integrated into business activities and no longer viewed as a function that happens in a silo. In-house counsel gains specialized knowledge and a broader knowledge base from outsourcing. These relationships need to be effectively managed to ensure the continuing value and successful outcomes. The business aspect of outsourced relationships needs to be managed as well as the communication aspect. Are the processes and methodologies being improved? Are you achieving the desired business results from the relationship? Are you achieving greater efficiencies by outsourcing? Work cannot simply be outsourced without a process of evaluation and measurement.
As for those that survive from outsourced work, their view too has changed. No longer content to perform a one time service, they are extremely focused on service and value realizing that it is critical to build long term relationships to sustain business, and that is a win-win proposition for both sides.