Copyright Infringment Lawyer, Internet Defamation, and Internet Privacy

How Not to Get Caught for Copyright Infringement – YouTube Video

 

Videos are being taken down all the time for copyright infringement.  Copyright infringement basically means that you’re not allowed to use anything in your videos that you didn’t actually create yourself; not without the permission of the copyright owners.  Now that kind of sucks for a lot of people who just want to make videos for fun and put in some background music because that is how to make videos cool, and then they find that the copyright owner doesn’t like those videos and doesn’t want them using their material and so they file a DMCA Complaint against it and pop! Gone! 

Intellectual Property Theft: Prevention and Recovery

Matt: Hi, and welcome back to Copyright Law Radio! I'm Matt Plessner. The laws of copyrighting and theft on the internet can be very undefined sometimes. The internet is a medium that's still very young, and thus can be subject to, I guess, kaleidoscope of different legal issues. We've referred to the internet as the "wild, wild west" in many of the interviews past, and that is very true. One such issue is intellectual property theft. Today, we're going to be discussing what this means, as well as some preventive and recovery methods. And of course, at Traverse Legal, we work with COPYSHIELD.COM which is a site that helps with matters such as these. And to help us with these we are welcoming Copyshields's very own Justin Mikula. Justin, we appreciate you taking some time to talk with us today.

Justin: Thanks for having me.

Matt: Now Justin....Well, for those people who haven't heard, I guess, our other interviews, can you just give us a little brief overview of Copyshield and what you do exactly?

Copyright Infringement Liability for Online Retailers

Weather you run a store on eBay or Amazon, operate your own ecommerce website, or otherwise sell goods online, you may face liability for the sale of goods that infringe the copyright of another. Well the digital millennium copyright act common namely section five twelve, provides protections to those internet service providers who are notified of infringement materials in comply with the statue, retailers may still face copyright infringement liability. If in fact they are selling their own products that are alleged to infringe another’s copyright, they may face directive copyright infringement liability. Moreover, if you are merely reselling third party products that are alleged to infringe the copyright of another, you may still face direct or secondary copyright liability.

Copyright Registration for Computer Programs and Applications

Oftentimes people discover that someone else has copied their website, computer program, or computer application online. They want to take action. However, unless they have registered for copyright protection with the US Copyright Office, they cannot file a lawsuit in federal court. Therefore, pursing copyright registration for computer programs and applications is critically important. In order to do so, however, there are many practical and legal decisions that need to be made in order to provide the broadest protection for a website, computer program, or computer application.

As always, copyright protection extends only to the copyrightable expression embodied in the website, computer program, or computer application. No one person can claim copyright protection for ideas, program logic, algorithms, systems, methods, concepts, or layouts. While other kinds of intellectual property protection may be available for those, copyright protection is not.

Since the registration of a copyright is a prerequisite to filing a lawsuit in federal court for copyright infringement, insuring that the copyright registration is correct typically requires the assistance of a copyright attorney. The copyright attorney can assist you with determining whether or not your computer program contains trade secrets and how the deposit that must accompany any copyright registration can be adjusted accordingly. In addition, a copyright attorney can help you understand whether or not your registration pertains only to your computer program or also to its screen displays. The same holds true for your website if it is providing software online or for your computer application, or app. Finally, a copyright attorney can assist you insuring that all authors and owners of the particular registration have accurately been reflected, and if necessary, agreements have been secured in order to insure that you have the necessary copyright rights in your computer program or other copyrightable item.

Ultimately, copyright registration for computer programs is extremely important. Completing the online application for computer program is one step, but a copyright attorney can insure that you have done what is necessary prior to and after successful registration in order to secure, maintain, and enforce your copyright rights.

How to Address Copyright Infringement on the Internet

Almost every single day a prospective or existing client calls and asks how they are to address copyright infringement on the Internet. The answer to the question requires an analysis of what truly is at issue with the copyright infringement. This begins by identifying what the copyright at issue is. For example, is it a photograph, language or other written content, or a video? Once the specific kind of copyright is identified, it is critically important to find out who owns that copyright. While typically the creator of any kind of work is the owner of the copyright, employment issues and work-for-hire doctrines may reveal a different answer. Nonetheless, in order to understand how one is to address copyright infringement on the Internet must begin with confirmation as to ownership of a valid and existing copyright.

Assuming that the work at issue qualifies as a copyright, regardless of if its registered or not, the next step in the analysis is to identify who is making the unlawful use of that copyright. Given that the Internet is available in countries beyond the United States, we first try to determine whether or not we are dealing with a United States entity. There are various ways to confirm this. For example, we can look to domain name registration information, website server hosting information, and other company information to determine whether or not the alleged unlawful user of the copyright is located within the United States. This is important because the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) may be an avenue through which a takedown notice can be sent if in fact we are dealing with a United States entity. Alternatively, if we are dealing with an entity located outside of the United States, we need to determine which laws apply to the same. For example, China is a signatory to the Berne Convention and thus allows various ways to address copyright infringement under Chinese and US law alike.

Having identified a copyright, and determined the identity and location of the alleged infringer, a copyright attorney will now advise the client as to its options. While a cease and desist letter is typically a starting point for copyright infringement on the Internet, there may be additional actions that can go with that notice letter. For example, as noted above, a takedown notice via the digital millennium copyright act may also accompany, although separately, any cease and desist letter to an alleged infringer. This will ensure that the web post also provides notice to the alleged infringer and may even extradite the removal of the infringing work if the alleged infringer does not cooperate. Besides letters, it is also important to determine whether a copyright infringer lawsuit can be filed.  In making this determination, it is important to factor in the considerations of the alleged infringers extent of liability, the likelihood of success, the likelihood of collectability, and related factors. Once advised by a copyright lawyer, the client can decide whether or not they wish to pursue a copyright infringement lawsuit.

Ultimately, addressing copyright infringement on the Internet begins with active monitoring of one’s copyrighted content. Knowing how your copyrighted material is being used and by whom allows you to more effectively address instances of copyright infringement on the Internet. Should you identify such infringing activity, you should contact a copyright lawyer who can work through the steps outlined in this post and ultimately address your copyright infringement on the Internet.

Subpoena to Reveal Identity Associated with an IP Address

This is Attorney Brian Hall with Traverse Legal, PLC; I am a copyright attorney that regularly handles copyright infringement actions and defense of the same throughout the United States. 

Today, I will be dealing with what has become a regular situation for many of my clients both prospective and existing.  And what we’re talking about today is when a subpoena has been issued to reveal the identity of an individual associated with an IP address.

Welcome to Copyright Law Radio. We bring you the best in copyright news, legal advice and information.  From copyright infringement claims and defenses to threat letter issues, DMCA takedown notice letters, copyright licensing, and legal analysis of the latest copyright law cases, we have a copyright attorney who can answer your copyright questions.

Copyright Infringement: How much is too much?

Today I'll be answering the question, Copyright infringement. How much is too much? What I mean by that is, how much can someone copy from someone else without being liable for copyright infringement? It's a question I get almost every single day, from both perspective clients and existing clients. They want to know, if there's a particular work out there, how much they can copy before they're subject to copyright infringement liability. My answer is always the same. “It depends.” That's not a very comforting answer to clients, but it is the reality.

Copyright Infringement from Online Image Use

There are many companies out there that offer stock photographs and other images available for download. Some of those are available for download for free, others are rights managed, while others require royalty-free, but one-time payment. One of those companies is known as Corbis. Another one is known as Getty Images. Regardless of the company, there are many types of these companies that simply acquire rights of ownership to the particular images from the author of those images, monitor how those images are being downloaded and used and then send letters of copyright infringement to the people that downloaded and used them. 

Welcome to Copyright Law Radio. We bring you the best in copyright news, legal advice and information.  From copyright infringement claims and defenses to threat letter issues, DMCA takedown notice letters, copyright licensing, and legal analysis of the latest copyright law cases, we have a copyright attorney who can answer your copyright questions.

This is copyright attorney Brian Hall with Traverse Legal PLC, a law firm that represents those receiving copyright infringement letters as it pertains to their use of online images. Today I want to talk about the liability that one may face by using images that they find online for their own personal use and benefit.

Google Algorithm Update Penalizes Websites Accused of Multiple Copyright Infringement

Google has announced that it will begin penalizing websites that receive a number of valid copyright DMCA notices. For those who are unaware, the DMCA is the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, which says that a website provider that registers an interim designation of agent with the U.S. Copyright Office can, upon the receipt of a valid copyright infringement notice, remove the identified copyright infringing material, and, if it does remove that material expeditiously, will avoid a lawsuit for a direct copyright infringement, vicarious copyright infringement or contributory copyright infringement. 

Welcome to Copyright Law Radio. We bring you the best in copyright news, legal advice and information.  From copyright infringement claims and defenses to threat letter issues, DMCA takedown notice letters, copyright licensing, and legal analysis of the latest copyright law cases, we have a copyright attorney who can answer your copyright questions.

Hello, my name is John Di Giacomo, and this is a Traverse Legal Radio broadcast.  I’d like to talk to you today about a recent Google Algorithm change which is intended to penalize websites accused of copyright infringement within the Google search engine rankings. 

Is it Copyright Infringement to Post on Facebook or Pin on Pinterest?

In many instances, copyright law is still designed for the non-digital age.  The ease by which information is shared on the internet has created a number of issues surrounding both practical and legal aspects of copyright protection.  Can you Pin someone else’s copyright protected work on Pinterest?  Can you share someone else’s copyright protected photograph on Facebook?  The answer, of course, is it depends.  The thing that you need to know is that you could be sued for copyright infringement if you don’t play by the rules.  Here’s an interesting article on the ins and outs of posting and pinning on Pinterest. 

"Oh, and you have no right to reproduce this article or any portion thereof.  But feel free to share the link!  "