Submitted by kevin townsend on Fri, 09/23/2011 - 06:57.
Once you have registered your copyright with the US Copyright Office or are pursuing rights under state law, you will need to ensure that the the alleged infringement actually infringes on a right granted by copyright, which includes the following:
(1) reproduce the work in copies;
(2) prepare derivative works based upon the work;
(3) distribute copies of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
(4) perform the work publicly;
(5) display the copyrighted work publicly;
(6) perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.
To investigate the alleged infringement you will need to establish that the potential infringement to ensure that it does not fall under one of several exceptions. If an exception applies, you will not be able to enforce your copyright against other people's acting on that exception, which exceptions include: (1) fair use; (2) use by libraries or archives; (3) copies of certain phonorecords (sound recordings); (4) performances for educational, religious, or cultural purposes, as long as no admission is charged; (5) secondary transmissions, such as when a hotel receives a single cable signal and "splits" it to multiple televisions in separate rooms; and (6) "ephemeral recordings," such as typing song lyrics without saving them.
Generally, most copyright holders, once they have established infringement, will have their attorney contact the alleged infringer to request that they "cease and desist" from using your copyrighted works. If this does not lead to a satisfactory conclusion, then you have local or federal rights to enforce in local or federal courts.
If you can establish infringement and have not been able to resolve the infringement by negotiations, you can engage local copyright infringement legal counsel for state rights, or for your Federal claim, you can contact the Intellectual Property (IP) Fraud Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation if you believe an infringement has occurred and no exceptions exist. You may file a complaint with the FBI by visiting your local branch; by filing online at the Internet Crime Complaint Center website; or by reporting suspected criminal behavior to the FBI's tip site.
If you would rather pursue a civil suit than a criminal one, contact attorneys that you know to get a recommendation for a referral to an attorney who specializes in copyright law. g.kevin.townsend@gmail.comwww.townsendiplaw.com
Submitted by kevin townsend on Fri, 09/23/2011 - 07:15.
Guest Writers or Authors Group or Complilation Copyrights on Blogs or Articles
To save costs, authors or guest writers can copyright compilations or works as a single work, but the Federal Copyright registration is only $30 online (http://www.copyright.gov/eco/). The complicating factor is that the registration must be made by, or on behalf of, the owner of the copyright. Therefore, you will need to execute some agreement to assign the ownership to the group that is filing the copyright, with exclusive license for the respective portions of the work for each corresponding author. g.kevin.townsend@gmail.comwww.townsendiplaw.com
Question from Randy
What is the legal remedy for copyright infringement in US and internatiionally?
Copyright infringement Options
Once you have registered your copyright with the US Copyright Office or are pursuing rights under state law, you will need to ensure that the the alleged infringement actually infringes on a right granted by copyright, which includes the following:
(1) reproduce the work in copies;
(2) prepare derivative works based upon the work;
(3) distribute copies of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
(4) perform the work publicly;
(5) display the copyrighted work publicly;
(6) perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.
To investigate the alleged infringement you will need to establish that the potential infringement to ensure that it does not fall under one of several exceptions. If an exception applies, you will not be able to enforce your copyright against other people's acting on that exception, which exceptions include: (1) fair use; (2) use by libraries or archives; (3) copies of certain phonorecords (sound recordings); (4) performances for educational, religious, or cultural purposes, as long as no admission is charged; (5) secondary transmissions, such as when a hotel receives a single cable signal and "splits" it to multiple televisions in separate rooms; and (6) "ephemeral recordings," such as typing song lyrics without saving them.
Generally, most copyright holders, once they have established infringement, will have their attorney contact the alleged infringer to request that they "cease and desist" from using your copyrighted works. If this does not lead to a satisfactory conclusion, then you have local or federal rights to enforce in local or federal courts.
If you can establish infringement and have not been able to resolve the infringement by negotiations, you can engage local copyright infringement legal counsel for state rights, or for your Federal claim, you can contact the Intellectual Property (IP) Fraud Unit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation if you believe an infringement has occurred and no exceptions exist. You may file a complaint with the FBI by visiting your local branch; by filing online at the Internet Crime Complaint Center website; or by reporting suspected criminal behavior to the FBI's tip site.
If you would rather pursue a civil suit than a criminal one, contact attorneys that you know to get a recommendation for a referral to an attorney who specializes in copyright law. g.kevin.townsend@gmail.com www.townsendiplaw.com
Question from Deanna
If we have guest writers can the site copyright their material for them grouped together?
Guest Writers or Authors Complilation Copyrights Blogs/Articles
Guest Writers or Authors Group or Complilation Copyrights on Blogs or Articles
To save costs, authors or guest writers can copyright compilations or works as a single work, but the Federal Copyright registration is only $30 online (http://www.copyright.gov/eco/). The complicating factor is that the registration must be made by, or on behalf of, the owner of the copyright. Therefore, you will need to execute some agreement to assign the ownership to the group that is filing the copyright, with exclusive license for the respective portions of the work for each corresponding author. g.kevin.townsend@gmail.com www.townsendiplaw.com