Someone Copied Your Content? Why You Can't Stop It and What to Protect Instead

With AI, anyone can recreate your blog post, carousel, or video in seconds, and you can't realistically chase every copy. In Fire Drill #16, attorney Tamsen Horton shifts the question upstream: what do you own that matters, can actually be protected, and is worth the time, money, and energy to defend? She gives a plain-English tour of copyright, trademark, and patents, plus an AI note on what you can actually own.

WHAT YOU'LL LEARN

- Why content is no longer king or queen, and what is actually valuable

- Idea vs. expression: what copyright does and doesn't protect

- Why registering a copyright before someone copies you matters in the U.S.

- Why your brand name (trademark) is usually the easiest and most valuable asset to protect

- Why most online business owners don't need a patent, and when to call an attorney early

- Why work created purely by AI generally can't be protected by copyright in the U.S.

- The DRILL steps applied to a copycat, and the five-part Fire Extinguisher: name your crown jewels, keep dated originals, register the few works that are real assets, search and protect your brand name, and use contracts that make ownership clear

- What to do if the fire is already burning, and when to call an attorney

FREE HOMEWORK

Write down the one or two assets in your business you would truly fight for. Those are your crown jewels.

RUN THE SMOKE DETECTOR

11 questions, about 3 minutes: tamsenhorton.com/business-fire-drills

Business moments are predictable. Panic is optional.

This is general educational information, not legal advice for your situation. Intellectual property law varies; talk to an attorney about your specific situation.