Protecting creative output is about much more than copyright and trademarks. Digital tools have made creation and distribution possible for everyone; and collaboration, mashups and content repositioning are essential to the modern creative landscape. In the digital age, "protecting the work" is more about stewardship - an almost sacred skill that creatives, as well as the managers, agents, publishers, publicists and labels who serve them need to take seriously. In a short essay, Seth Godin wrote about Roman Coppala's role in protecting the work of his filmmaker sister Sophie:
"In describing the role her brother played in producing one of her movies, Sofia Coppola said, 'he protected the film.'
As a producer, Roman saw his role as keeping the crew small, the project moving, the choices open so that Sofia could do her work. He protected the movie so that she could make it.
'Too often, artists and marketers and designers forget to protect their work from those that might try to improve it.
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