?I have a good idea?
 

OK in school I get quite board. So I day dream about video all day. ( and still get good grades) but a couple of days ago I thought of a very good idea. I really don't want to tell any one cause someone might steal it. It would be quite convenient for all of us and I am for sure it has not been thought of or if it has it hasn't been done yet. Does any one know how I could summits this idea to a company without getting shafted. I would like to get something out of it if it ever happened. Well, I might have pipe dreams but I think this idea would be a good one. Does any one know how you would go about this??

Joel
Your amongst friends, tell us , we won't mention it to a soul.

What is the nature of this "good idea"? A film? A television series? A new internal combustion engine?

Also, are you an adult or a minor?

Put it in writing. Write it down in detail for yourself, right away.

Ideas are not property. Ideas can't be protected. Something in writing *is* property, and can be protected by copyright.

You could talk to a lawyer ... that would be a good idea.

The standard way to protect an idea is have whomever you're submitting it to sign a non-disclosure agreement (usually called an NDA). Of course, you'll still need some kind of proof that the idea you're pitching is your own.

Also, you don't say what state you live in. California has fairly good idea-protection laws. Basically, if you disclose an idea in the context of a business meeting in which the usual expectation would be that you'd be compensated if the idea was used, you'd be able to sue for the fair-market value of the idea if it is used without your permission.

Of course, everything depends on the idea.

As Chris mentioned, copyright protects only the expression of ideas, but not the ideas themselves. If your idea is an invention or a process, you may be able to protect it with a patent, though that is the most difficult and expensive intellectual property to obtain.

ok i am a minor (17) and i live in ny. The ideas to do with editing. I just want to sumbit it to like mac or like sony and maybe get a little somethig out of it.

Joel,
First, follow Chris Hurd's suggestion. Second, you can write to the major companies to ask what their process is for receiving product ideas from outside of the company (don't tell them about your idea, just ask for the procedure). Third, pay more attention in class, "submit" is not spelled, "summits".

Good luck. Nick

sorry thats the stupid spell check

Joel,
Roger the spell checker. Good luck with marketing your idea.

Nick

Joel,

As Chris has said write it down on paper. But to be double sure you can do the pormans copyright protect, by posting it to yourself, that way it will get a post mark and a date that has been varified by a 3rd party. BUT DON'T OPEN IT!!!

Please tell...

Ed

i might post it after i talk to mac to see what there policies are.

Whoa . . . hold on there!

Ideas are not protected by copyright. In fact, ideas are not protected at all, unless they are an invention or process that is new, novel and non-obvious and been reduced to practice, in which case they are protectable as patent (if registered), or are disclosed only in the context of a non-disclosure agreement.

The so-called poor man's copyright (which isn't, and is merely one form of proof of creation), or a real copyright registration, will NOT protect the idea. Do NOT post it, unless you want to lose it.

If you want to know about this, drop me an e-mail. Talking to me would be subject to attorney/client privilege, i.e. I couldn't disclose it to anyone. I don't charge anyone on dvinfo.net for a casual (and non-binding) inquiry.

Paul, Esq.

It depends how much you stand to make and how much you really believe in the idea. If you're quite sure it will contribute to the next 20 million dollar product by Mac, it's worth protecting.

You need to speak to a lawyer experienced in copyright law. You're probably best to research your idea further over the next year until you turn 18, that way you can enter into your own legal agreements if you proceed.

Can you prototype your idea? Or is it just a "what if they built software that did such and such"? If you can write the software or prototype it yourself then you can own the copyright and sell it to whoever.

Get a lawyer for starters. :)

its actually hardware not software