Common Questions Asked Of A Copyright Infringement Lawyer

Written By Admin on Minggu, 02 September 2018 | 03.19

By Betty Wallace


People who would never consider shoplifting or stealing a car don't think twice about reproducing the work of an artist for their own websites or publications. This has always been a problem for creative people. Many even consider suing in an attempt to deter the thieves. Not everyone understands how copyrights work. If you have questions a good copyright infringement lawyer will have the answers.

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.

The main advantage you have when you do this is the ability to sue if someone infringes on your work. The drawback is that you have to pay a fee to register your work individually. You can't register a body of work as one entity. That means someone like a photographer, who may be advertising hundreds of pictures for sale would have to pay a registration fee for each one, and that can get expensive.

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 are in place to protect and encourage those in science and the arts. It gives them exclusive use for a period of time. The Founding Fathers believed it was so important they put it in the Constitution.




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