Speaking at HAuNTcon 2016

As many of you likely know, I am a man of two great passions: Copyright/Plagiarism and Haunted Attractions.

For 11 months out of the year I blog here at Plagiarism Today and work as a copyright consultant at CopyByte.

For the other one month, I live for the scare as I run a small New Orleans-area haunt, Bernie Baxter’s Traveling Sideshow, which like Plagiarism Today, has been in operation for 10 years. I, along with my partner Crystal Ramey, also recently launched a podcast about the haunted attraction industry entitle Haunt Weekly.

However, next month I’m going to get a chance to combine those two passions as I will be speaking at HAuNTcon, one of the haunted attraction industry’s premier conferences, on intellectual property issues.

My talk is entitled “Copyright and Trademark for Haunters” and will focus on how copyright and trademark laws impact the haunted attraction industry.

We will be discussing everything from developing a haunt’s name and logo, to making sure your advertisements, websites and characters don’t infringe upon the rights of others. We’ll also be looking at how to protect your original creations from those who might misuse it.

For those interested in attending, HAuNTcon this year is between January 28 through February 1. It’s held at the Sheraton Birmingham in Birmingham, Alabama. Though I don’t have a date for my talk (schedule being finalized), all of the workshops take place on the 29th, 30th and 31st.

In addition to mine and the other sessions, HAuNTcon features a tradeshow floor, a costume ball and tours of local haunted attractions.

So, if you’re a fellow haunter and wanting to meet with me or see me talk about copyright, this is your chance. Tickets are still available at the HAuNTcon website and I would love to see you there!