Articles

You Pay Tax on Profits, Not Revenue Business owners have one of the greatest abilities among all U.S. taxpayers to minimize their taxes—because you’re taxed on profits, not total income. If your business earns $1 million in revenue but has $800,000 in expenses, you pay income tax only on the $200,000 in profit. A solid…

Copyright Protects Creative Expression—Not Everything Copyright is everywhere in business—your logo, website content, software, and marketing materials all carry legal protection. But the key principle is that copyright protects creative works, not functional ones. A notepad with simple ruled lines has a purely practical purpose and likely isn’t protectable. Add a distinctive artistic design to…

What a Choice of Law Provision Does A choice of law clause in a contract specifies which state’s laws will govern the agreement. In a deal between a company in California and one in New York, the parties can agree upfront whether California law or New York law applies. Without this clause, a court has…

Policies vs. Contracts: A Critical Distinction Most employers should use company policies rather than employment contracts for their workforce. A contract requires both parties to agree to any changes. A policy can be updated by the employer at any time—and that flexibility is enormous as your business grows and circumstances change. Contracts do have a…

Anti-Harassment, Discrimination, and Retaliation Policies Every company needs a clear policy prohibiting harassment, discrimination, and retaliation. Harassment covers inappropriate conduct—sexual comments, unwanted contact. Discrimination means treating someone differently because of a protected classification. And a retaliation policy assures employees they can report problems without fear of being punished for speaking up. That last piece is…

Stock Option Plans Often Trigger Federal Law When a business promises employees future payouts tied to company performance—stock options, phantom stock, or similar equity incentives—that arrangement can trigger ERISA (Employee Retirement Income Security Act). ERISA is a federal statute designed to protect employees whenever compensation is delayed rather than paid immediately. What starts as a…

What Copyright Actually Protects Copyright protects creative expression that has been fixed into a tangible medium—written down, recorded, photographed, or coded. It does not protect ideas, facts, or concepts. The moment you write something original, you own the copyright automatically. No registration required for ownership to exist. Where Copyright Came From Copyright traces back to…

The Default Rule: Contractors Own What They Create If you hire an independent contractor—a web designer, software developer, graphic designer, or photographer—the default rule in the United States is that they own the copyright to whatever they create for you. Even if you paid $100,000 for custom software, the contractor retains the intellectual property rights…

The Hidden Risk in Outsourcing IT When you hire a third-party IT company to manage your systems, they get access to everything—client data, financial records, proprietary information. Most business owners don’t think twice about it because the vendor has a good reputation. But reputation isn’t a legal protection. How Missing a Clause Can Destroy Your…