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Online Copyright Manual for Everyone
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BLOG POST # 1
What Is Copyright Infringement?
Copyright laws are constantly changing, and knowing exactly what copyright
infringement is, whether you’re creating an eBook, publishing articles, using music as a
backtrack to your podcast - or what have you - is essential to selling your online media.
Although the laws change from one jurisdiction to another, knowing the basic rules of
copyright infringement will ensure you’re following the proper rules of engagement when
it comes to creating your works. Before you make any final decisions regarding the use of
a work that has been copyrighted, please contact a copyright attorney to ensure you’re
following the law – this will keep you from being sued or, even worse, punished in a
court of law.
What is Copyright Infringement?
Copyright infringement, as defined by Wikipedia.org, states: “Copyright
infringement (or copyright violation) is the unauthorized use of material that is protected
by intellectual property rights law particularly the copyright in a manner that violates one
of the original copyright owner's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or
perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works that build upon it. The slang
term bootleg (derived from the use of the shank of a boot for the purposes of smuggling)
is often used to describe illicitly copied material.”
So, what is copyright infringement in plain English? It means that if you’re not
allowed to use something, then don’t use it – plain and simple. It can be very simple to
get permission to use a work – many times you’ll be able to use a ‘sample’ of music or
excerpt of written work for a nominal fee, or small attribution. However, if you do not
have the permission of the copyright holder – whether it’s an author or a publishing house
– you can be sued for copyright infringement or worse.
What is Copyright Infringement in America?
In many jurisdictions, such as the United States of America, this act is known as a
strict liability crime or tort (a tort is a civil wrong – not a criminal wrong). This means
that the person who infringes the copyright - whether intentionally or not - will be
responsible for the damage or loss. Also, the prosecutor (in criminal court) or plaintiff (in
civil court) must only prove that the act of copying was committed by the defendant –
they do not need to prove guilty intent. This means, even if you had no intention of
committing copyright fraud or infringement, you can (and in present times, in many cases,
WILL) be prosecuted, even if you used the material in good faith.
What is Copyright Infringement in action?
Many cases of copyright infringement are difficult to see to the layperson, because
the violation is not limited to exact copying. In many cases, when something is inspired
by another thing – such as in music, when the inspiration of one song is used to create an
entirely different song – it’s difficult to see where the new product or ‘thing’ has crossed
the line to something illegal. Some works aren’t even protected by copyright, such as
compilation of facts that lack the creativity necessary to be covered by copyright, or
works that are in the public domain because the copyright has expired. Knowing the
difference is often very difficult to see, and because of this we’ve seen a number of
copyright infringement cases in recent years, especially in tandem with the music
industry.
As you can see, copyright infringement is a very difficult, albeit necessary, act to
define. However, if you make sure that you’re using works that are in the public domain,
or have long since been out of copyright (think Beethoven or Frankenstein) you’ll be safe.
Do you fair research, and if you have any questions contact a copyright lawyer and ask
‘what is copyright infringement’ to learn the most up-to-date information for your
jurisdiction.
You can learn how to avoid the copyright infringement problems that are driving others crazy at http://www.YOUR-AFFILIATE-LINK.com
To Your Success,
YOUR NAME
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BLOG POST # 2
Copyright Infringement Lawsuits
A copyright infringement lawsuit can be brought down for any number of reasons:
someone using a song in a podcast or radio program, a writer ‘borrowing’ information
from another work, the copying of video or mp3 off the internet without permission (or
sometimes, even to another CD or DVD). Copyright infringement lawsuits are not
generally brought to the average person, unless they’re downloading a LOT of music or
movies, but usually for large operations: software pirates reselling goods on eBay or to
some other unsuspecting victim, someone ‘sampling’ a song to make another, or maybe a
person reselling mp3s online.
When you understand the implications of it, copyright infringement lawsuits aren’t
frivolous as some people may make it seem. For the most part, the average person’s
familiarity with a copyright infringement lawsuit is taking down copyrighted material
after receiving a nasty email.
The use of works that are used in major record albums my major recording stars
like Britney Spears or 50 Cent, people will begin copyright infringement lawsuits for
songs that bear resemblance to another song. Usually these suits will be lost because it’s
rather hard to prove inspiration, but they are rather costly and draining, especially if there
isn’t a large backing legal team.
Copyright infringement lawsuits for large enterprises can be rather costly and time
consuming as well. If you work for someone, and you plagiarize someone on the
company blog, the whole company can be sued, and you fired, for that infraction. Another
large copyright infringement lawsuit is the eminent MySpace v. Universal Music Group,
who is claiming that MySpace is knowingly committing copyright infringement by
allowing it’s users to upload copyrighted material. Even then, Universal Music Group has
been negotiating with MySpace and couldn’t come to an agreement – then they filed suit.
Universal Music Group has an agreement in place with YouTube, where YouTube
agrees to follow Universal’s rules. It’s worked out well thus far, and I think with an
agreement in place ‘user created content’ will retain a destination on the internet.
This is a testament we all need to be with social networking sites and ‘user created
content.’ We need to watch ourselves, because many times we may not realize the
veracity of our actions.
Sometimes, people break copyright laws on purpose. There is a huge market in the
dealings of pirated software – from Windows to Photoshop to The Sims. It’s very easy to
share peer-to-peer, and because of that, people can resell ‘pirated’ for a high price – all
profit. Or they’ll download MP3 and resell them; or eBooks. These people who resell
these items get nasty penalties – with both copyright infringement lawsuits and criminal
cases. They’ll pay a hefty fine and go to jail.
As you can see, copyright infringement lawsuits can affect any one of us – from our
friends on MySpace to our employer, to the computer geek down the street. It’s very easy
to violate copy rights, and you have to watch yourself. The chances are good that you
won’t be involved in a major copyright infringement lawsuit, but you still need to ensure
you’re following the copyright rules of engagement.
Copyright infringement lawsuits are important in determining what is, and isn’t,
applicable to copyright laws. Because of these lawsuits, our laws have changed regarding
fair use, internet use, and the Electronic Frontier Foundation and CreativeCommons.com
has been formed. The lawsuits help us to understand what is, and what isn’t fair – and
these organizations have helped the masses to understand what’s so important about
copyright, and why we need to defend our freedom of speech.
You can learn how to avoid the copyright infringement problems that are driving others crazy at http://www.YOUR-AFFILIATE-LINK.com
To Your Success,
YOUR NAME
| BLOG POST # 3
Protect Your Work with a Copyright Music Form
Many confuse a copyright music form with an actual copyright. The form is
actually what you get from the U. S. Copyright Office when you are ready to register your
copyright. It is highly recommended that everyone who writes a piece of music take the
time and register their copyright. It is also important to understand that once you've either
written or recorded your original music, it is actually copyrighted. In other words you do
not actually need to fill out any type of copyright music form in order to have your music
copyrighted.
While registering is not the act of copyrighting your work it is very necessary if you
plan to file suit for copyright infringement. It is also better to fill out the copyright music
form they offer earlier in the life of your music rather than later as the timing of the
registration of your copyright can have an impact on the actual awards you can receive
should you win your lawsuit. There is also something quite satisfying about having your
musical works registered with the copyright office. I can't explain the feeling as it will be
different for everyone but if you've written music, you really should see for yourself.
You can find the copyright music form from the U. S. Copyright Office online quite
easily. There is more involved than simply filling out the paperwork in order to register
your copyright. You must also pay a fee, the actual fee changes so you should make sure
you are aware of what the current fee is before sending in your work. An insufficient fee
can result in delays. You also must send an actual copy of the music you are registering
the copyright on. Your copy may either be the written or recorded music you wish to
register but must include everything you wish the registration to cover.
When filling out the copyright music form it is important to provide as many
accurate details as possible. While your registration is active the day your application is
received you may not actually receive your certificate for several months. Really and
truly, as far as government agencies go, this is one of the easier ones to deal with as far as
red tape. The procedure in addition to the copyright music form is straight forward and
not designed in a manner that would be too easily confusing.
The copyright music form is only one step in the process of registering your music's
copyright. While it is an important step if you forget the other steps there will be delays in
the registration process. Read the form completely before filling it out and if you are
printing your form from the computer, I highly recommend printing more than one
copyright music form to insure that you have extras if you make a mistake and in order to
register your future musical copyrights.
Your first copyright registration will be the most nerve wracking. This makes
perfect sense when you consider that trying anything new requires some degree of
'anticipation'. It is also likely to be your most thrilling. Even in this particular piece of
music ends up being the worst piece you've ever written (most of our first endeavors are
our worst) there is a lot to be said about the fact that you've actually taken the steps to
insure your future is a great feeling. If your first piece of music sells and is someday
published that is wonderful. If not, you are still ready for the next piece and have gone
through the process of filling out a music copyright form before so you know what to
expect.
You can learn how to avoid the copyright infringement problems that are driving others crazy at http://www.YOUR-AFFILIATE-LINK.com
To Your Success,
YOUR NAME
| BLOG POST #4
Software Copyright Laws Fail to Provide Protection
Software copyright laws are among the most difficult to enforce among the masses.
Many companies and corporations are also well known for overlooking these laws, which
were designed to protect the makes of software from not earning their worth. Perhaps one
of the biggest hitches leading so many software businesses to go out of business is the
fact that they have a great deal of difficulty actually enforcing the software copyright laws
that are in place and getting the money that is owed them according to the agreements that
have been made with those on the using end of the software.
Software developers, particularly in the corporate world design software that makes
other companies run more efficiently. The software allows these companies to save
millions of dollars each year. Software copyright laws protect the interests of the software
developers that create these massive programs. These programs are often designed
specifically for that one company and are very expensive. The agreement often consists of
a certain number of users with the company purchasing more licenses or copies of the
software during expansions or paying some sort of royalties for the use of the software.
The purchasing companies agree to this and then more often than not fail to honor
that agreement. The agreement is what allows this company to use that software, this
agreement is what allows that permission. When companies aren't living up to their end
of this agreement they are not only guilty of breaching that agreement but also of breaking
software copyright laws. The trouble always lies in proving that they are not honoring the
contract and the extent and duration of the breach.
Some of the ways that companies will argue in defense of them not paying the
royalties, additional fees, purchasing additional software, etc. is that they upgraded
computers and reused the old software (they did actually purchase the rights to use the
original software and by doing so feel that they have broken no software copyright laws)
the problem lies in the fact that adding ten new computers and placing the software on
those should mean that you remove it from or get rid of 10 old computers. This is rarely
how it works. So now they've basically stolen ten copies of software that can be well
worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Multiply this by 10, 20, or 100 companies trying
this or worse each year and the offending companies are costing software developers
millions of dollars in profits. This is when software copyright laws are not as far reaching
in their scope as they really need to be.
Software copyright laws exist to protect the software companies from this type of
abuse and misuse, however, the hands of the companies are almost unilaterally tied when
it comes to proving that software copyright laws have been broken in court.
There are always exceptions to every rule. In this case big business software
developers that abuse the software copyright laws to the point of breaking make the
exceptions rather than miserly consumers that do not wish to pay for the products they are
consuming. The big boys are able to do this by offering licenses for their software and
claiming that these laws do not apply to their situation because they are not actually
selling the software only 'renting' out permission for people or companies to 'use' that
software. The true irony is that these practices began as a response to the corporate
irresponsibility mentioned above. It's amazing that the very software copyright laws that
were created to protect these companies can't protect their consumers from the greed of
the developing companies.
You can learn how to avoid the copyright infringement problems that are driving others crazy at http://www.YOUR-AFFILIATE-LINK.com
To Your Success,
YOUR NAME
| BLOG POST #5
Surprise! There Is No International Copyright Law
Many people are surprised to learn that there is no international copyright law. Yes,
that is right. There is not an international copyright law that will protect your work on the
other side of the world. However, it is important to note that most countries do offer some
form of protection to what is deemed as “foreign” works.
International conventions and treaties have done much to protect owners of
copyrights around the world. With the world seemingly becoming smaller every day the
United States took a look at its stance on the European copyright treaty known as the
Berne Convention. Basically, the Berne Convention of 1886 involved European nations
coming together to seek a uniform copyright law to keep their copyright owners from
having to register for copyrights in individuals European countries. The United States
signed on to the Berne Convention introduced made it into a U.S. law known as the Berne
Implementation Act of 1988.
If you are seeking to have your work protected in a particular country you need to
find out what kind of protection foreign authors have in that country. Some countries
offer little or not protection to foreign authors. It should be noted that the U.S. Copyright
Office is not allowed to give authors recommendations or the names of attorneys or
agents that could help them understand foreign copyright laws. However, with a little
investigation it is not hard to find someone who is an expert on foreign copyright law.
These individuals can help you learn more about copyright protection and how your work
is deemed in a foreign country.
Someone who works in international copyright law will tell you that it is different
than most other sectors of law. It involves knowing the copyright law of two or more
countries. Every country has their own way of granting and protecting someone’s
copyright. The individual criteria of each country must be taken into consideration when
you are dealing with international copyright law. It is important to note that some
countries do not have any intellectual property rights and some countries even grant more
copyright protections than even the United States. International copyright laws involve
understanding international treaties and conventions, like the Berne Treaty and WIPO
Copyright Treaty listed above. If you are interested in pursuing a degree in law, you may
want to explore the international copyright law sector. With the world becoming one big
neighborhood, you will probably not lack for work.
People that have copyrighted works need to be aware that there are differences in
the copyright laws in some nations. While it is true that the United States has signed
treaties with some nations, your work will not be protected in every country of the world.
As stated, the United States is a member of the Berne treaty. In addition, the United States
is a member of the WIPO Copyright Treaty. This treaty works in conjunction with the
Berne treaty yet it also covers and gives protection to databases and computer programs.
If you would like more information on international copyright law you should check with
an attorney who specializes in international copyright law.
You can learn how to avoid the copyright infringement problems that are driving others crazy at http://www.YOUR-AFFILIATE-LINK.com
To Your Success,
YOUR NAME
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