Tuesday, 4 September 2018

What Are The Most Common Questions A Copyright Infringement Lawyer Hears

By Betty Wallace


Having work stolen is a huge headache for creative people. If you're going to sell your work online you are open to someone digitally picking up copies of your work and using it for their own purposes. At some point, many artists consider suing in order to try and deter thieves. Not everyone understands exactly how the process works however. A good copyright infringement lawyer can help sort out your rights.

Most people don't know how or when works are copyrighted, what can and what can't be copyrighted, and what you do if someone infringes on copyrights. Artists have a right to their own work, without the possibility of another person copying it, for a limited period of time. The Founding Fathers made this part of the Constitution. You can formally register your work with the United States Copyright Office by filling out a registration form.

There are advantages and drawbacks to doing this. The biggest benefit is the right to sue anyone who infringes on your work. A big drawback is the cost involved if you have multiple works you want to protect. Each individual work must be registered, and paid for, separately. This can get expensive for someone like a photographer who publishes a portfolio of work or markets works on the internet.

There are certain things that can't be copyrighted. One of these is called fixation. That means the work has to be in a tangible state. A musician's song written down or recorded is the property of that musician. The performance of the song live can't be copyrighted. Ideas can't be protected, but once the idea becomes concrete reality, it can.

You can't protect work that isn't original. Facts can't be copyrighted. For instance, a list of the days of the week or a list naming the employees of a company are in the public domain. If however, there is an original design that includes the days of the week or a company directory, the design can be protected.

Many people are surprised to learn that domain names, or web addresses, cannot be copyrighted. You can protect your website address, but to do it you have to register it with the United States patent office. The length of time copyrights last depends on several factors. Sometimes it lasts the length of the artist's life. Other times it's 120 years after the creation of the work.

Fair use is an exception to copyrights that artists need to understand. Fair use allows others to take a portion of a copyrighted work for the purpose of reporting, educating, or commentary, among other things. The free use can't negatively affect the commercial value of the work.

Copyrights were put in place to promote the creation of works in the arts and sciences. It gives artists protection over their work for a period of time. The Founding Fathers thought it was important enough to be included in the first Article of the Constitution.




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