A brief discussion of copyright law and violations of same...

[MineralMan]

A thread in GD, http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8925806 mentions that DU has had a copyright infringement suit filed against it. While that is not what I'm going to talk about, it's the reason I'm writing this.

Whatever your view of intellectual property rights, there is a copyright law, and it can be enforced through civil suits. Here are the basics, in pure lay terms.

1. If someone creates a work, which can be writing, art, film, music, or any creative product, that person is protected automatically by copyright law against someone else using that work without permission and/or compensation.

2. If the person who creates the work, or who gets the copyright from that person as the new owner, puts a copyright notice on that work, then they are announcing to everyone who sees it that it cannot be reproduced without permission.

3. A work need not be registered with the Library of Congress to have rights under the copyright law. All that's needed is proof that you created the work or own the copyright in that work. The copyright statement is a good idea and notifies people that the work is not in the public domain.

4. You may have heard about "fair use." It exists, but it's not as simple as it sounds. Many copyright cases revolve around this, and it's very, very hard to define. If you post work you do not own, even as an excerpt, you'd better write your analysis of it and make that analysis the bulk of your posting, or you're likely not to be in compliance with the "fair use" standard.

5. Just because a copyright holder hasn't filed claims of copyright law violation in the past is no protection against such claims being filed at any time. For example: Many political and other cartoons are posted all over the internet, usually with no comment from the poster. Almost every one of those cartoons has a copyright notice attached to it, as part of the image. Most cartoonists don't follow up on these postings, but they can, and they can at any time. Cartoonists are poorly paid. Eventually, someone's going to figure out that they can make a pile of money by filing on these ubiquitous postings. I guarantee it.

6. You may believe that knowledge should be free. But the law does not agree with you. And, if you operate a web site that in any way collects money, you are a target.

7. You may think you cannot be sued, as an individual, for posting copyright-protected material on a site you do not own. You are incorrect if you think that. You can be sued. You will lose, if it can be demonstrated that you posted the protected material, especially if you knew that it was protected under copyright. A copyright notice that is part of the material is your notice, as with the political cartoons.

8. You may think that intellectual property has no value, so you're not stealing anything by posting it. You will discover that you are incorrect. Intellectual property does have value. You'll find, for example, that political cartoonists are paid by the publications where their work appears. If you post it without paying for it, you have stolen the customary payment the artist normally receives. Plus other damages and court costs.

9. As a disclaimer, I will say that I have been working as a creator of intellectual property for most of my adult life, and still am. I take it seriously, and have gotten paid by people who have published my work without permission. I have to do that. It's the thing I create. It's how I make my living. I've also written and created stuff that I've deliberately placed in the public domain, and have included a statement to that effect in that intellectual property. I've done more of that than work I've been paid for. But, a guy's gotta make a living.

10. It's worth thinking about all this. If you don't, you may cause a favorite web site to close its doors because of copyright violations. You may even find yourself looking at notice of a lawsuit. It happens. Don't be angry at me for writing this. It's just the simple explanation of a very complex law.

Bottom Line: If you did not create a piece of writing or other material that could be protected under the copyright laws, it is not yours. Odds are that it is protected and requires permission before being republished. You take a risk every time. I'm not sure it's worth it.