Peer Reviews: Good or bad idea? Advice pls...

Hannah McNamara · 05-14-2009, 10:58 AM

Hi there, I'm new to this forum so forgive me if there are numerous existing threads about this topic - I haven't found them yet.

I'm part-way through a JV promotion with a new set of partners who have become affiliates for my portfolio of products and services. Within the next 6 weeks I am planning to launch a substantial high-value product for a niche market.

I have a good relationship with most of the other players in my market and would like to get some peer reviews to publish on the site - endorsements and testimonials from other 'names' in my market.

This would mean sending review copies out before the launch so they can do this. Pretty standard stuff when you're publishing a book for example and I did this successfully when my book was published in 2007 - the publishers helped and with securing book reviews in magazines.

Anyway, it's been brought to my attention that the people I'd be sending the product to may also have their own products on this topic and may have similar products in development. While I know it's near impossible to stop people copying ideas/materials on the internet now (hey, we all read each other's stuff when we're researching for our new products) but should I be as paranoid as some people think I should be about Intellectual Property (IP) issues? The people I'd send it to - I'm pretty sure - are 100% trustworthy and ethical and wouldn't risk seeing their name being associated with plagiarism.

I should add that I'm also considering a WSO for the first time ever to get the product 'out there' and so will be dealing with people I don't know personally.

I'm putting watermarks on pages to mark them as a 'SAMPLE' to prevent scanning/photocopying, © Copyright notices on every page, but I don't know how far to take this. It's a physical product rather than an electronic product - CD set, manual, printed reports and exercises.

Basically, I'm after some advice. This IP issue has cost me enough time already - I was all set to go about a month ago until someone started getting me worried saying I was going to get ripped off!

And a part of me thinks that if someone wants to rip off my stuff that badly, they'll buy it as a customer to it!

Should I be looking at some sort of written agreement? - I know some people use non-disclosure agreements in the earlier stages of new product development.

Anomaly1974 · 05-14-2009, 11:24 AM

If you want advice on legal issues and theft of Intellectual Property ... my advice would be to consult a patent attorney or even better, an attorney who works with International copyright law.

I wish I could answer your questions but ... I do not write legal or medical advice ... even for paying clients for a reason.

Just me though

05-14-2009, 10:58 AM	#1
Hannah McNamara Warrior Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 5 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts Social Networking	Peer Reviews: Good or bad idea? Advice pls... Hi there, I'm new to this forum so forgive me if there are numerous existing threads about this topic - I haven't found them yet. I'm part-way through a JV promotion with a new set of partners who have become affiliates for my portfolio of products and services. Within the next 6 weeks I am planning to launch a substantial high-value product for a niche market. I have a good relationship with most of the other players in my market and would like to get some peer reviews to publish on the site - endorsements and testimonials from other 'names' in my market. This would mean sending review copies out before the launch so they can do this. Pretty standard stuff when you're publishing a book for example and I did this successfully when my book was published in 2007 - the publishers helped and with securing book reviews in magazines. Anyway, it's been brought to my attention that the people I'd be sending the product to may also have their own products on this topic and may have similar products in development. While I know it's near impossible to stop people copying ideas/materials on the internet now (hey, we all read each other's stuff when we're researching for our new products) but should I be as paranoid as some people think I should be about Intellectual Property (IP) issues? The people I'd send it to - I'm pretty sure - are 100% trustworthy and ethical and wouldn't risk seeing their name being associated with plagiarism. I should add that I'm also considering a WSO for the first time ever to get the product 'out there' and so will be dealing with people I don't know personally. I'm putting watermarks on pages to mark them as a 'SAMPLE' to prevent scanning/photocopying, © Copyright notices on every page, but I don't know how far to take this. It's a physical product rather than an electronic product - CD set, manual, printed reports and exercises. Basically, I'm after some advice. This IP issue has cost me enough time already - I was all set to go about a month ago until someone started getting me worried saying I was going to get ripped off! And a part of me thinks that if someone wants to rip off my stuff that badly, they'll buy it as a customer to it! Should I be looking at some sort of written agreement? - I know some people use non-disclosure agreements in the earlier stages of new product development.

05-14-2009, 11:24 AM	#2
Anomaly1974 Always the Write Way! Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: American Expat in the Philippines. Posts: 1,193 Thanks: 45 Thanked 25 Times in 23 Posts Social Networking Contact Info	Re: Peer Reviews: Good or bad idea? Advice pls... If you want advice on legal issues and theft of Intellectual Property ... my advice would be to consult a patent attorney or even better, an attorney who works with International copyright law. I wish I could answer your questions but ... I do not write legal or medical advice ... even for paying clients for a reason. Just me though
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