Here's how to avoid accidentally stepping on the rights of another's creative work.
Find out more about Copyrights
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by Jonathan Layton, J.D.
Jonathan Layton is a graduate of The College of William and Mary, where he majored in English literature. While...
Updated on: July 30, 2024 · 4 min read
Copyright is one of several categories of intellectual property (IP) protection, designed to safeguard the creator's, owner's, or holder's exclusive right to claim an original work as their own—when the work is fixed in a tangible medium.
As soon as a work is written on paper, recorded digitally, or typed electronically—or anything that can be heard, seen, read, or touched—the work is granted copyright protection, normally for a limited period of time.
The U.S. Copyright Act of 1970 was enacted to protect creative works from unauthorized use or copyright infringement. However, despite federal law, which prohibits individuals from copying, publishing, transmitting, exhibiting, distributing, modifying, displaying, or otherwise using (whether for profit or not) the original creative expressions of others, copyright infringement—intentional and inadvertent—still can and does occur.
Copyright infringement typically involves someone using another person's original creative work, or a copyrighted work, without permission.
There are many types and forms of copyright infringement. These are some examples of activities that would constitute copyright infringement if you carry them out without first obtaining permission from the owner, creator, or holder of the copyrighted material:
While by no means an exclusive list, these suggestions will help you avoid inadvertently pirating another individual's creative works:
Although private and government agencies accept and process copyright registrations, those entities don't normally address alleged copyright infringement claims. As the creator, owner, or holder of the copyrighted material, it's up to you to enforce your rights to stop the infringing activity.
Perhaps the most straightforward and commonly used method to stop copyright infringement is to send a so-called Copyright Infringement Notice directly to the offending party.
This is a written notice that identifies the copyrighted subject matter, specifies the alleged infringement or unauthorized use, and threatens action if the infringing activity is not immediately terminated. The notice may also seek fines and penalties for the past unauthorized use of the copyrighted work.
A Copyright Infringement Notice (or a Notice of Claimed Infringement) is much like a "cease and desist" letter, commanding the infringer to immediately stop the infringement, undo any potential harm, and remove usages of the copyrighted material from public display at once.
If the first method doesn't succeed, a second option is for you, as the copyright owner, to file a civil lawsuit against the infringing party. In the lawsuit, you will need to prove that your copyright precedes any usage of the materials by the infringing party. You can typically request a court order demanding the infringing party to immediately stop using the copyrighted material and ask for money damages (that is, monetary compensation) for any actual harm that has occurred as a direct result of the infringement.
Copyright infringement penalties can be both civil and criminal in nature and include:
You can protect yourself from copyright infringement by registering your creative works with the help of an attorney. An expert can also assist you in pursuing copyright infringement penalties or defend you against an infringement action.
It's easy to get the right protection. LegalZoom can help you register a trademark, search the federal database to avoid infringement, file a statement of use, and monitor activity.
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