How to protect intellectual property like my coaching method?

This is a tricky question as you are entering a gray area if you are using material from Book Z to inspire your own book. Derivatives works are highly litigated and there is case law that you could turn to to help you make this decision but based on your example its going to be a fine line. You would have to be able to distinguish the products as two very separate works. Since the original book Z is inspiring your new book this may be hard to do. It might actually be easier to talk with the original author about your future plans and develop an agreement between the two of you where he waives any claims he might have here in exchange for recognition in your book. Just an idea--FYI- this is NOT LEGAL ADVICE. You should consult with an attorney in more detail here.

Disclaimer: I'm not an intellectual property attorney - and I am not attempting to, nor qualified to give legal advice. That said - here is what I know on the subject. Copyright was once explained to me as a bundle of sticks, where each stick was a different right. Two sticks that might be important in this situation would be: 1. Distribution Rights: Creating the sheet music in itself may be harmless, but copyright does cover right to distribute - and so your idea to distribute for profit may infringe upon this right. 2. Derivative Works: Copyright also gives the owner the right to create derivative works based on the original - so even if your version is different - it becomes an issue of "how different" - so you may also be infringing on this right. One path forward is to determine who owns these rights (the original artists or label often sell the rights) and license the right to produce and sell the sheet music. My guess is this could be cost and time prohibitive. Another would be to see who is already selling sheet music for these songs - and simply act as an affiliate, taking a portion of the revenues per sale. Consider trying the affiliate route first, to determine how many of these sales you generate from your audience, before going to the trouble of licensing the content etc. I'd be happy to discuss ways that you can validate demand within your population before you do either, and recommend doing so with or without my input. Cheers, Ryan

(I'm a small biz attorney who helps people with copyright, trademark, and other IP law, and I'm answering per U.S. law.) As soon as you take your idea and put it into a tangible format (write it down, create an infographic, record a video), then that writing/infographic/video is automatically protected by copyright law. You can record the copyright on it too, which makes it easier to protect and get damages from other people taking it. But the formula itself would be probably protected under trade secret law or patent law. Patent law obviously takes a bit more effort, because you have to apply for the patent and get your application examined by the USPTO, which takes years and $$$. Keeping it protected under trade secret law means you have to make an effort to keep it secret (which may not work if you are disclosing it as part of your marketing efforts), such as keeping it confidential and requiring NDAs. As someone else said, the other terms you use might be protected under trademark law. If a member of the public would use those terms to link your products/services with the source of the product/service (aka, your company), then they could be trademark-able. There are some state law protections for trademarks, and you can also file to register the trademark with the USPTO and get more protection. Hope that gets your started!

Your first point of reference should be experience. The most effective way to create your ToS is to consult with a lawyer who specializes in your industry. This also hold true for your that and any business legal document. It’s true that you can find different online services and templates to assist you, but the truth is that these documents could very well be null and void. Your business is specific and unique and your ToS should be the same way. I advise against copying your ToS or using one of the “easy to use” sites as they will almost certainly fail to include or capture everything. Read more: https://lawtrades.com/blog/protect-website-liability/ At www.lawtrades.com, we have plenty of experienced Terms of Service and Privacy policy lawyers who will complete it for you on-demand. I have seen PP and TOS prepared routinely for $599 or less, and these documents essentially serve as a “blueprint” for your business. (Full disclosure: I'm the founder/CEO). In my opinion, copying your competitors legal documents will not work for you in the long run. The odds are high that the business had their documents customized, and by copying and pasting you are claiming that your business has the same features and services which is highly unlikely. Hope this helped address some of your concerns. When you're ready, you make your request completely free at www.lawtrades.com to get a better feel for the process. Feel free to mention "clarity" for a discount :)

If you're using source control, it's easy to track source and control access — or revoke access — if someone leaves the company. Also, your developers should have signed a contract about the project itself that clearly places the source code under your/the client's/the company's control, and if/when they leave, they release all rights to code created under that contract. You can never be 100% sure, but these small steps will at least ensure a legal high ground should anyone steal code. Good luck!