Piracy And Copyright Infringement: Understanding The Illegality

Copyright infringement is a serious offence that can result in a range of penalties, from a warning letter to jail time. It occurs when someone infringes on the exclusive rights of a copyright holder, using their original work without permission. This can include reproducing, distributing, or publicly performing the copyrighted work without authorisation. Copyright law protects original works of authorship, such as literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, and grants the owner exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, and publicly perform the work. It's important to understand that copyright protection is automatic and applies to both published and unpublished works, ensuring that creators have control over their content.

Copyright infringement penalties

Copyright infringement is the act of violating any of a copyright owner's exclusive rights granted by federal law. There are three elements that must be in place for infringement to occur: the copyright holder must have a valid copyright; the person infringing must have access to the copyrighted work; and the duplication of the work must be outside of any exceptions.

Copyright infringement and plagiarism are two different issues. Copyright is a federal law that protects original works from being copied and distributed without the author's permission, unless an exception applies. Plagiarism, on the other hand, is passing off someone else's work as one's own or a lack of attribution, and there are no federal or state laws against it.

Willful copyright infringement can also result in criminal penalties, including imprisonment of up to five years and fines of up to $250,000 per offence. Defendants convicted of criminal copyright infringement for the first time may be imprisoned for up to five years and fined up to $250,000, or both. Repeat offenders may face up to 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, or both.

In addition to fines and imprisonment, other penalties for copyright infringement include:

• The infringer paying the actual dollar amount of damages and profits.
• The court issuing an injunction to stop the infringing acts.
• The court impounding the illegal works.

Fair use law

Copyright infringement is the term used when someone breaks copyright laws.

Fair use is a doctrine in US law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without acquiring permission from the copyright holder. It is a general exception that applies to all different kinds of uses with all types of works. Fair use originated in common law during the 18th and 19th centuries to prevent copyright law from stifling creativity. It was later enshrined in statutory law when the US Congress passed the Copyright Act of 1976.

The US "fair use doctrine" is generally broader than the "fair dealing" rights known in most countries that inherited English Common Law. The fair use right is based on a flexible proportionality test that examines the purpose of the use, the amount used, and the impact on the market of the original work.

Examples of fair use in US copyright law include commentary, search engines, criticism, parody, news reporting, research, and scholarship. Fair use provides for the legal, unlicensed citation or incorporation of copyrighted material in another author's work under a four-factor test:

• Purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.
• The nature of the copyrighted work.
• The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.
• The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Fair use is decided on a case-by-case basis, considering the entirety of the circumstances.

Copyright registration

Copyright infringement is the term used to describe when someone breaks copyright laws.

To register a work, one must submit a completed application form and a non-returnable copy or copies of the work to be registered. This can be done online through the Electronic Copyright Office (eCO) Registration System. There is a fee for registering a copyright, which can be paid by credit card if filing online or in person. The time it takes to process an application varies depending on the number of applications being received and the extent of questions associated with the application.

There are different types of works that can be registered with the U.S. Copyright Office, including:

• Fiction, non-fiction, poetry, articles, and periodicals
• Music, lyrics, sound recordings, scripts, and stage plays
• Artwork, illustrations, jewellery, fabric, and architecture
• Computer programs, databases, blogs, and websites
• Movies, TV shows, video games, animation, and videos
• News photos, selfies, wedding photos, and family photos

It is important to note that titles are not protected by copyright law, and all information on the application should be factually accurate. Additionally, the U.S. Copyright Office's current system only accepts titles containing Roman letters and/or Arabic numerals.

Copyright duration

The term of copyright protection for a particular work depends on several factors, including whether it has been published and, if so, the date of its first publication.

As a general rule, for works created after January 1, 1978, copyright protection lasts for the life of the author plus an additional 70 years. For an anonymous work, a pseudonymous work, or a work made for hire, the copyright endures for a term of 95 years from the year of its first publication or a term of 120 years from the year of its creation, whichever expires first.

For works first published before 1978, the term varies depending on several factors. For example, works published before January 1, 1930, are in the public domain. Works created before 1978 but published or registered after 1978 have a standard copyright duration of 70 years from the author's death.

The copyright duration for works made for hire and anonymous or pseudonymous works is 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

Public domain

Copyright infringement is a "strict liability" offense. This means that when the courts decide whether there has been copyright infringement, they do not consider whether it was intentional.

Copyright is a type of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship. Copyright law covers a wide range of creative works, including paintings, photographs, illustrations, musical compositions, sound recordings, computer programs, books, poems, blog posts, movies, architectural works, and plays.

The term "public domain" refers to creative materials that are not protected by intellectual property laws such as copyright, trademark, or patent laws. The public owns these works, not an individual author or artist. Anyone can use a public domain work without obtaining permission, but no one can ever own it. Works in the public domain are those that are never protected by copyright (like facts or discoveries) or works whose term of protection has ended, either because it expired or because the owner failed to satisfy a previously required formality.

There are four common ways that works enter the public domain:

• The copyright has expired. As of 2019, copyright has expired for all works published in the United States before 1924.
• The copyright owner failed to follow copyright renewal rules.
• The copyright owner deliberately places it in the public domain, known as "dedication."
• Copyright law does not protect this type of work. For example, copyright law does not protect titles of books or movies, short phrases, facts, ideas, or theories.

It is important to note that while each work in the public domain belongs to the public, collections of public domain works may be protected by copyright. If someone has compiled public domain images in a book or on a website, the collection as a whole may be protected, even though individual images are not.

Frequently asked questions