| Copyright Infringement |
Article Index for Copyright |
Articles about Copyright Infringement |
Website Links For Copyright |
Information AboutCopyright Infringement |
| CATEGORIES ABOUT COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT | |
| copyright law | |
| infringement | |
| crimes | |
| tort law | |
| copyright infringementcopyright law | |
| infringement | |
| crimes | |
| tort law | |
| copyright infringement | |
| commercial crimes | |
| tort law | |
| copyright law | |
| infringement, copyright | |
|
Copyright infringement is the unauthorized use of Copyright ed material in a manner that violates one of the copyright owner's Exclusive Right s, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works that build upon it. The slang term '''bootleg''' (derived from the use of the shank of a Boot for the purposes of Smuggling ) is often used to describe illicitly copied material. In many jurisdictions, such as the United States , copyright infringement is a Strict Liability Tort or Crime . This means that the Plaintiff or Prosecutor must only prove that the act of copying or '' Actus Reus '' was committed by the Defendant , and need not prove '' Mens Rea ''. Good Faith , standing alone, is no defense. For electronic and audio-visual media, unauthorized reproduction and distribution is often referred to as piracy or '''theft''' (an early reference was made by Alfred Tennyson in the preface to his poem " The Lover's Tale " in 1879 where he mentions that sections of this work "have of late been mercilessly pirated".) The legal basis for this usage dates from the same era, and has been consistently applied until the present time. Critics of the use of "software piracy" to describe such practices contend that it unfairly compares a crime that makes no victim - except for those that would have profited from hypothetically lost sales - with the violent actions of organized Thieves and Murder ers; it also confuses mere illegal copying of material with the intentional and malicious penetration of computer systems to which one does not legally have access. As a consequence, "software piracy" is a somewhat loaded term. "Theft" or "stealing" are considered even more inflammatory, as well as legally misleading. METHODS OF COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT uses advertising as an attempt to deter people from copying films, particularly those still in theatres.]] The unlawful downloading and Sharing of recorded music in the form of MP3 and other Small, Lossy audio files is still widespread, even after the demise of Napster and a series of infringement suits brought by the American Recording Industry against music-sharing individuals seemingly chosen at random. Promotional Screener DVDs distributed by movie studios (often for consideration for awards) are a common source of unauthorised copying when movies are still in theatrical release, and the MPAA has attempted to restrict their use. Movies are also still copied by someone sneaking a Camcorder into a movie theater and secretly taping the projection (also known as " CAM "), although such copies are often of lesser quality than officially released version of the film. Sharing copied music is legal in many countries, such as Canada, and parts of Europe, provided that this information is neither advertised, nor that the songs be sold. Bootleg Recording s are musical recordings that have not been officially released by the artist or their associated management or production companies. They may consist of demos, outtakes or other studio material, or of illicit recordings of live performances. Music enthusiasts may use the term "bootleg" to differentiate these otherwise unavailable recordings from "pirated" copies of commercially released material, but these recordings are still protected by copyright despite their lack of formal release, and their distribution is still against the law. PENALTIES Though many jurisdictions impose criminal penalties for certain blatant acts of copyright infringement and may try to stop certain infringing imports at the border, copyright infringement is still mainly prosecuted through private Lawsuit s by the copyright holder or their exclusive licensees. When successful, these lawsuits will typically impose monetary damages against the infringer as well as Injunction s against future infringing uses. Many infringement claims involve simple cases of copyright infringement where the copying is obvious. Others, however, are more difficult to resolve because copyright protection is not limited to exact copying. It is inevitable that creative and commercial works will take inspiration from the culture at large, and it is often challenging to determine when this "inspiration" has crossed the line into infringement, especially in the case of musical works. There also may be a question of whether the allegedly infringed work is even protected by copyright. Unprotected works may include, for example, compilations of facts that lack the requisite creativity to be covered by copyright, or those works that are in the Public Domain because the copyright term expired. Copyright notices—often just a simple statement on the work itself of the year protection was acquired and by whom—are not always a good indication of whether a work is protected because most countries do not require such formalities, and so lack of notice does not mean lack of protection. Courts may also subsequently decide in the context of an infringement suit that the work did not meet the minimum criteria for copyright protection, even if the work had been previously registered by a government or private copyright agency. However, copyright notices give at least some indication of whom to contact if permission is needed, and when a copyright will expire, though the copyright terms of preexisting works are sometimes legislatively extended (as with the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act ) or even restored after expiration (as with the Directive On Harmonising The Term Of Copyright Protection in the European Union). To avoid infringement claims, the right to make use of a copyrighted work can be acquired through an explicit contract or license with the author or publisher, through purchasing a lawful copy (which may provide a number of rights to the purchaser, as under the First-sale Doctrine ), and for certain types of media, Statutory License s (such as for reproducing and recording musical works under U.S. copyright law). Even without going through such channels to get prior authorization for use of the copyrighted material, doctrines such as Fair Use or Fair Dealing may provide potentially broad defenses to infringement claims. The failure of a copyright holder to bring a timely lawsuit against known infringers may later block such a claim by establishing an implied license, as may other acts or omissions that could informally signal consent to use the work. Copyright Misuse , the exploitive or restrictive use of a copyright by its legal holder, is sometimes informally called ''reverse piracy''. JUSTIFICATION Copyright holders and anti-piracy organizations commonly release statistics showing their losses due to piracy in an attempt to deter the activity. For example, the MPAA estimates the global cost of film piracy in 2002 to be $3.5 billion. {Link without Title} Those engaged in piracy, however, are often critical of these figures. It is unreasonable to assume that every download of a film represents a lost movie ticket or DVD purchase. Furthermore, there are instances of films benefiting from the exposure, particularly independent and cult films. SEE ALSO For a substantial discussion of copyright infringement in the domain of computer programs, see Copyright Infringement Of Software .
For the policy on copyright in Wikipedia, see . NOTES |
|
|