Federal laws protect all materials that brandish a Copyright. This includes a wide spectrum of items including but not limited to books, songs, and video productions. Under these laws, the use of these materials without the permission of the owner is prohibited and opens the door to litigation. However, the first step to identifying a violation is to determine if the fair use ruling applied.
What is Fair Use?
Fair use identifies the limited circumstances in which an individual who isn’t the owner of the material could use it. Teachers may use information from books for teaching purposes. Critics may reference the material to generate a review. They cannot, however, use direct quotes without providing proper credit to the author. The media also initiates fair use by discussing the material produced by the author. Lastly, research teams may reference material that possesses a copyright in their reports with identifying the work in which the text appears, the year it was written, and the author’s name.
Identifying Copyright Infringement
In more recent years, Copyright infringement has applied to intellectual property most often. The reproduction and distribution of files containing music and books have become a major issue. These occurrences have resulted in a serious loss for the owners. For this reason, the musical artists and authors have launched campaigns to prevent illegal activities. These campaigns and efforts emerged after it was discovered that music sharing these files for immediate download without paying the owner. The website owners also failed to acquire legal permission for these distributions.
How to Fight Infringement
Owners of material that possesses a Copyright should contact an attorney. An investigation could be necessary to identify all instances in which the copyrighted material was used or distributed illegally. The first step is to present the violator with a notification identify how they violated these laws.
Federal copyright laws prohibit the use of any material that has been registered by the original owner. According to these laws, the material is protected for seventy years after the death of the original owner. To investigate a potential violation of these laws, contact Edward L White PC Attorney At Law today.
