“Copyright”, is something you get automatically in most countries whenever you durably persist some kind of creative expression.

It does not generally prevent you from copying a design like this. A word clock is a concept: but that requires patent protection, not copyright.

Yes, the qlocktwo is the only other high end word clock I've found on the market. But they were not the first with the concept either. There are TONS of DIY projects and kits available on the net. Personally, I didn't want to make a DIY "project". I wanted a finished product with different styling than the qlocktwo.

See here:

https://smile.amazon.com/QLOCKTWO-BIEGERT-FUNK-TOUCH-English...

And look at the Customers who viewed this item also viewed row.

They even have a wrist watch. Wow. https://qlocktwo.com/en/qlocktwo-w/

Yeah, how is this not infringement?

Otherwise, we would see $79 mass-produced word clocks at Target.

A word clock is a concept that requires patent protection, not a copyrightable expression.

Lots of people that have seen my work have said "you should patent that!"

I don't see anything that is obviously patentable to my wordclock design or others that I've seen. IANAL but I do hold 4 patents (and other pending) in other domains so I have a little bit of experience.

Oh, sure: I was just clarifying that copyright doesn't help here. Honestly I think it'd be a silly patent? But USPTO grants lots of silly patents.

Again, I disagree.

The original wordclock concept was based on a piece of artwork.

As being artwork, the artist creator is afforded the protections of copyright.

ahh, got it. Thanks for the clarification.

It may be worth your time to consult with a real intellectual property attorney, not us HN IP fanboys.

You have alot of time and money involved in this endeavor.

I mean copyright, not patent.

The original concept is based on the artwork of a particular artist and their company.

Mot if it is based on an original work of art.