If you are in a creative field, it’s a good idea to be familiar with copyright infringement, and how to avoid it. Understanding how copyright infringement works will allow you to create without fear of violating someone else’s rights.
What does copyright infringement mean?
Let’s define copyright infringement
Copyright infringement has many subtleties, and can result in contentious and controversial lawsuits. But at its core, it is a relatively simple concept.
COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT DEFINITION
What is Copyright Infringement?
Copyright infringement is the unlicensed use of copyrighted material. “Use” can refer to reproduction, performance, display, or distribution— anything that is the sole right of the copyright holder.
In other words, if you don’t receive explicit permission from a copyright holder when you use their work, you could be accused of copyright infringement.
Common examples of copyright infringement:
- Using a song in a movie without obtaining its rights
- Selling a duplicate of someone else’s photograph without permission.
- Plagiarizing someone’s essay in a collection.
Few people set out to purposefully infringe upon someone else’s copyright. It often happens when someone is too closely inspired by someone else’s work, or if they don’t know about the necessary licensing they need to use a work.
Avoiding copyright infringement
How copyright works
To understand copyright infringement, you’ll need to be familiar with copyright law. In the United States, a work is copyrighted automatically if it fits under two qualifications: that it is fixed and original. This can include a choreography, a movie, a song, a painting, a photograph, an essay, and much more.
When the work is created, copyright is granted to its author. Copyright can be transferred through licensing agreements, or a sale of the work to another party.
So what rights does copyright afford a holder? It essentially allows you to use the work as you see fit– distributing it, exhibiting it, reproducing it, reinterpreting it, and so on.
A copyright holder can further bolster their protections by registering their work with the Copyright Office.
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How to protect from copyright infringement
What to do when infringement occurs
If you think an entity is using your copyrighted work without your permission, there are a few steps you can take. First, you’ll want to make sure that your ownership is solidified. This means ensuring you are registered at the Copyright Office.
Next, you’ll have to prove the infringement. This typically means documentation– collect photos, videos, or screenshots of the violation in action.
Before you throw the book at the infringer, you can reach out to them and notify them that they are breaching your copyright. As we’ve mentioned, most of the time people aren’t committing copyright infringement deliberately, so notifying them is often a quick way to get them to stop.
If this is fruitless, the next step is to bring in a lawyer. They will be able to provide advice on how to proceed. Typically, this means sending a cease and desist letter, followed by taking legal action.
How to avoid copyright infringement
What to do if you infringe copyright
Say you’re on the other side of the coin, and you are accused of infringing upon another work’s copyright. Your steps will likely be similar.
Assess the holder’s claims. Are you in fact using their work without their permission? If so, simply stop what you’re doing– take down the post, halt the exhibition, etc.. Usually, the matter will then be settled.
If you don’t think the holder has a case, however, you can consult a lawyer. The burden of proof is on the owner, and if you don’t think the proof is there, you should be in good shape.
Real world copyright infringement
Copyright infringement examples
As you may be able to infer, copyright infringement is often hotly debated. It can be difficult to parse inspiration from infringement. As such, even massive companies and celebrated artists get caught up in infringement. Here are a few examples.
Katy Perry vs Marcus Gray
Copyright infringement cases are arguably most common in the music industry, where melodies and sounds can often overlap. Such was the case with Katy Perry’s song “Dark Horse” and Marcus Gray’s “Joyful Noise.”
Gray sued Perry for copyright infringement, claiming that the instrumental of her song was a copy of his. Gray was initially awarded a whopping $2.78 million, but the decision was overturned after an appeal.
Gucci vs Guess
Gucci and Guess are two instantly recognizable fashion brands. But to Gucci, Guess’s designs were instantly recognizable as infringement on its trademarks. Gucci won the case, though settled for just $4.1 million.
Napster
The proto-music streaming site was hit by multiple lawsuits from various record companies for its distribution of music on its platform. Napster was wildly popular for facilitating the copy and free transferring of copyrighted music, which, as it turns out, is completely illegal.
The record companies won, and Napster was never able to fully recover.
Up Next
How to copyright a screenplay
If you’re a screenwriter, it’s important to be able to protect your work so that things like copyright infringement don’t happen– and if they do, you have a solid legal ground to stop it. We walk through how to make sure you’ve got all your documents in order.
Copyrighting a screenplay →
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