Copyright Infringement

What exactly is copyright infringement? It is when someone other than the copyright holder uses or copies the work of the copyright holder. This can occur even when the work is not copied exactly Types of copyright infringement: Use, reproduction, alteration, display, distribution, sharing, downloading, without permission

Origins Copyright has had a long history predating back to the 16th century - London’s Stationer’s Company in 1557 was given a Royal Charter which enabled them to have a monopoly on publication and tasked them to enforce it The problem of copyright infringement has continued through today

Important Milestones Berne Convention of 1886 - The most important international treaty concerning copyright infringement - U.S. took over 100 years to sign it. Signed in 1988 with the exception of Section 6 which they felt went against the first amendment Dowling vs. United States (1985) - Established difference between theft and infringement. The goods do not need to increase one’s personal economic gain for it to be infringement No Electronic Theft Act (NET Act) 1997 - Civil and criminal prosecution of anyone who has copyrighted or is associated with copyrighted work and received no financial gain - Members of software piracy groups could also be prosecuted for participation in a criminal enterprise

How is copyright infringement being countered? Torrent sites being targeted by federal governments - Mininova ordered by Dutch court to remove all links to torrents - Fine of 1000 Euros per infringing torrent Music companies suing to get songs off YouTube Also targeting individual users with large downloaded music collections - RIAA lawsuits End User Licence Agreements and Software keys for software applications

Challenges Despite the laws that government and product manufacturers have tried to enforce in order to reduce copyright infringement, it is becoming increasingly harder to protect the rights of the copyrighted owners. Copyright infringement has grown dramatically since the late 1970s, as technology and the internet has eased the unauthorized duplication of copyrighted works. We see this most frequently through software, music, and movie piracy. Software manufacturers' attempts to protect their property – for example, by using special codes to prevent programs from being installed more than once from each set of disks – have proved unpopular with users and possible to bypass by determined copiers. Because computer data is so easy to duplicate, and the use of unauthorized software is so hard to detect, it is almost impossible to enforce anti-piracy law. Software piracy is a particular problem in the developing world. In India, for example, it is estimated that 60% of the software market is in pirated software. Similarly, unauthorized duplication of music CDs became an international phenomenon, especially in Asia and Latin America where it is estimated that over 100 million CDs have been illegally reproduced for selling. For CDs and DVDs, it is difficult to catch copyright infringement. Illegal copies are unlikely to be found at retail stores; instead, copies are sold at on-street markets and other personal selling sites for extremely low prices.

Opinion Although it may seem tedious, these are the right measures to follow in order to avoid copyright infringement: Material that is not copyrighted is considered in the public domain. You cannot commit copyright infringement on works in the public domain. These works include things that the copyright has expired on, or is not copyrightable -- such as government publications, jokes, titles, and ideas. However, if you can’t find something suitable (and you can’t create something yourself), the next best thing (and your only legal course of action) is to find a piece that is in copyright, and then contact the copyright holder. When you contact the copyright holder, make sure you tell them what you want to use their piece for -- whether it’s for your blog, podcast, or report -- and ask if you can use it. The creator may place many limitations on when and how you can use their material. If you follow the instructions they give you, you will be free and clear to use their work as you want. Once you have permission to use a copyrighted work, you need to make sure you stay within the agreed-upon boundaries. If you veer outside their agreed terms, you may open yourself up for a copyright infringement lawsuit. It is understandable why this process would be unpopular given that people could just go on the internet, copy and paste what they need and be done with it. However, it is important to acknowledge and give credit to the hard work of the people who created the product or text. Also, you don’t want to go to jail.