The Questions

What is the difference between a Provisional Patent Application and a Non-provisional Patent Application (Regular Patent)? 

Are downloaded works over peer-to-peer networks violating Copyright law?

 

How "original" does my work have to be to merit copyright protection?

How do I know if I can protect my business information as a trade secret?  

How can I prove that there has been an infringement on my copyright?  

Are there any legal problems with using a specific product in my film?  

 

If I show my character watching TV, do I have to get permission to show whatever is on the screen?

If I use fake guns in a public place am I legally obligated to inform the local police? 

Should I be concerned about filming a famous building?  

If I’m shooting my film in another state. Do I need to set up a limited liability company (LLC) in that state? 

These questions were important to me, because I'm in the film industry as my main focus. My biggest concern was knowing what I could or could not get away with, in regards of assets, places, props, and how to distribute the work to my peers so we can finish working on the project together. 

Additionally, I wanted to know, what made a patent a patent, and what would be considered a trade secret. Secondly, how to protect myself, and my peers, should our work be compromised in some way. And finally considering the nature of my work,  I needed to know, how "original" a piece had to be, in order for it to have merit in the industry at all. Since I've heard the phrase, "it's all been done before" about a million times, yet still see new works coming out all the time, and yes, some are remarkably similar. But I wanted to know how similar something would be, without it being downright plagiarism, or essentially stealing an idea I'd seen before.