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Copyright violations mynewsmile.com | City of South Bend :: Code Enforcement Violations :: About Code... ci.south-bend.in.us | Copyright And Legal Copyright Infringement Portal - STM stmassoc.org |
For information on handling copyright concerns in Wikipedia, see Wikipedia:Copyright violations. The Cathach of St. Columba, a seventh century book of psalms. Tradition cited it as the book whose illicit transcription by Saint Columba in 560 AD led to the overturn of an Irish copyright ruling by force of arms.[1] An advertisement for copyright and patent preparation services from 1906, when copyright registration formalities were still required in the US. Copyright infringement (or copyright violation) is the unauthorized or prohibited use of works covered by copyright law, in a way that violates one of the copyright owner's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works. For electronic and audio-visual media, unauthorized reproduction and distribution is also commonly referred to as piracy (an early reference was made by Daniel Defoe in 1703 when he said of his novel True-born Englishman : "Its being Printed again and again, by Pyrates"[2]). The practice of labeling the act of infringement as "piracy" actually predates copyright itself. Even prior to the 1709 enactment of the Statute of Anne, generally recognized as the first copyright law, the Stationers' Company of London in 1557 received a Royal Charter giving the company a monopoly on publication and tasking it with enforcing the charter. Those who violated the charter were labeled pirates as early as 1603.[3] The legal basis for this usage dates from the same era, and has been consistently applied until the present time.[4][5] Critics of the use of the term "piracy" to describe such practices contend that it is pejorative and unfairly equates copyright infringement with more sinister activity,[6] though courts often hold that under law the two terms are interchangeable.[7]
[edit] ExamplesThe unlawful downloading of copyrighted material and sharing of recorded music over the Internet in the form of MP3 files is more prominent now than ever, even after the demise of Napster and a series of infringement suits brought by the RIAA. Promotional screener DVDs distributed by movie studios (often for consideration for awards) are a common source of unauthorized 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 "camming"), although such copies are often of lesser quality than DVD rips. Some copyright owners have responded to infringement by displaying warning notices on commercially sold DVDs; these warnings do not always give a fair picture of the purchaser's legal rights, which in the US generally include the rights to sell, exchange, rent or lend a purchased DVD. Sharing copied music is legal in many countries, such as Canada (downloading only),[8][9] and parts of Europe, provided that the songs are not sold. Bootleg recordings 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 covered by copyright despite their lack of formal release, and their distribution is still against the law.[citation needed] The unauthorized use of text content is a form of copyright infringement. It is common on the world wide web for text to be copied from one site to another without consent of the author. Roberta Beach Jacobson criticizes the misappropriation of writers' work by websites in her article Copyrights and Wrongs. This article was added to articlestree.com[10] on November 27, 2001; ironically, it has since been copied to hundreds of websites,[11] many of them claiming copyright over the work or charging money to access it. [edit] Sample Troll"Sample troll" is a little used neologism. Recently, certain companies such as Sony/BMG, WMG (Warner Music Group) and UMG (Universal Music Group) have been purchasing portfolios of old music copyrights for the express purpose of enforcing those rights when a musician samples said old music for a new composition. These companies have been referred to by the pejorative term "Sample Troll." Their role in copyrights is seen to be analogous to the role of so called patent trolls in the patent arena.[12] The best example of this is Madonna. In the song "Hung Up" she samples the introduction of ABBA's 1979 hit "Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)". According to her, she had to "send an emisary with a letter to Stockholm telling them how much I loved their music." The group could not refuse after listening to the song, and gave her the rights to sample their song's intro despite having a strict "No sample" policy. [edit] Worldwide collaboration to fight copyright infringementServers enabling internet-based copyright infringement are often based in countries with less strict copyright laws or enforcement history.[13][14][15] BPI spokesman Matt Phillips has said the lax copyright laws in Eastern Europe and the post-Soviet countries made it hard to crack down on copyright infringement there.[16] Copyright holders are collaborating to fight this activity, through lobbying governments and other means.
[edit] Legality A short film included on many DVDs equates copyright infringement with theft. The most important international treaty concerning copyright infringement is the Berne Convention of 1886 as amended. The United States became the 80th signatory of the treaty with the Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988, over 100 years after the passage of the original treaty in Paris. The US signed the treaty with one important exception: it did not accept the recognition of moral rights in article 6 of the Berne Convention. Moral rights enable a copyright holder to "object to any distortion, mutilation, or other modification of, or other derogatory action in relation to, the said work, which would be prejudicial to his honor or reputation."[19] The US expressly stated in the Implementation Act that no other right (i.e. the 1st Amendment) shall be impacted by acceptance of the Convention. Literary criticism and parody are important parts of the US infringement defense of fair use. Consequently, the US provides less protection from infringement of moral rights than other Berne signatories. [edit] Infringement suit in U.S. lawU.S. law requires a copyright holder to establish ownership of a valid copyright and the copying of constituent elements of the work that are original.[20] Assuming the plaintiff proves ownership of a valid copyright, the holder must then establish both actual copying and improper appropriation of the work. The burden lies with the plaintiff to establish these three elements in what is known as the prima facie case for infringement.
[edit] Defenses to infringementA defendant in an infringement action may rebut the presumption of copying by a showing of independent creation. It is possible for an author to create a work independently while bearing similarities to another. If access is not established, there is no copying, even if there is a striking similarity between the two works.[36] For this reason, corporations will destroy or return unsolicited mailings from authors as a policy.[37] The legal doctrine of de minimis non curat lex, "the law does not care about trivial things," provides a de minimis copying defense against infringement. When the plaintiff establishes only a trivial use of the copyrighted work by the defendant, there is no infringement. For example, an out-of-focus copyrighted picture appearing only momentarily in the background of a commercial is not infringement.[38] The Beastie Boys successfully used this defense in a lawsuit over the use of three musical notes in the song "Pass the Mic."[39] The Beastie Boys had obtained a license to use the recording, but the rights to the song itself were retained by the original composer. The court held that use of three notes was not a sufficient use and amounted to de minimis copying. However, the Sixth Circuit has held that the de minimis defense is not available for the sampling of sound recordings because of their intrinsic value in saving the sampler time and costs in hiring musicians to perform the music however short.[40] The two most important defenses to copyright infringement are the first sale doctrine and fair use. The first sale doctrine is a defense to infringement of the distribution right. It permits a lawful purchaser of a copyrighted work to resell or otherwise dispose of it. This, however, is not a defense to the reproduction right. Fair use is an affirmative defense, but its application will vary greatly depending on the facts and circumstances of the case. Courts apply a four part balancing test examining the scope of infringement, the effect on the copyright owner's rights (e.g. his or her ability to sell the work), the amount of the work copied, and the purpose of the infringement. Courts have held that a non-commercial use is not fair use when it has a substantial market effect. In cases with a small-scale impact, courts are more receptive to arguments regarding the effect on the copyright owner's market or potential market. Fair use is used mainly in the United States. Other common law jurisdictions have the more rigidly defined defence of fair dealing, while civil law jurisdictions also have similar defences. [edit] Amendments to the 1976 Copyright ActWith the passage of the No Electronic Theft Act (NET Act), US copyright law was changed to allow for the civil and criminal prosecution of persons allegedly engaged in copying of copyrighted works without permission that did not result in personal financial gain; historically, the criminal copyright law required infringement to be for financial gain. Among other things, the NET Act altered the definition of financial gain to include bartering and trading. In addition, under this US law, members of software piracy groups could also be prosecuted for participation in a criminal enterprise. [edit] British lawThe Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, as amended by the Copyright and Trade Marks (Offences and Enforcement) Act 2002,[41] currently protects copyrighted materials. People who distribute and download copyrighted recordings without permission are liable to face civil actions for damages and penalties. As in the United States, it is possible to identify the IP addresses and the ISPs were obliged to disclose the name and address of the owner of each such internet account. The Copyright and Related Rights Regulations 2003 amended the CDPA to provide an additional right of performers to require consent before making copies of their performances available to the public by electronic transmission.[42] A survey carried out in 2006 for the National Consumer Council indicated that over half of British adults infringe copyright law by copying and ripping music CDs, with 59% stating a belief that copying for personal use is legal.[43] However, ripping music from CDs to another format, such as MP3, is currently illegal. In 2006 The Institute for Public Policy Research called for a "public right to copy".[44] In January 2008 the government proposed changes to copyright law that would legalise copying for personal use.[45] British Copyright law has been criticised as needlessly strict and out of date by consumer advocacy groups. In a 2009 study Consumers International found it the least consumer-friendly from all 16 countries whose laws they examined, due to the aforementioned illegality of copying purely for personal benefit.[46] [edit] Criminal offencesActs that may be criminal offences in the UK include:
The penalties for these copyright infringement offences depend on the seriousness of the offences, and may include:
[edit] Comparison to theftFurther information: Dowling v. United States (1985) Copyright infringement is often equated with theft, for instance in the title of the No Electronic Theft Act of 1997, but differs in certain respects. Courts have distinguished between copyright infringement and theft, holding, for instance, in the United States Supreme Court case Dowling v. United States (1985) that bootleg phonorecords did not (for the purpose of the case) constitute stolen property, and writing:
The key distinction generally drawn, as indicated above, is that while copyright infringement may (or may not) cause economic loss to the copyright holder, as theft does, it does not appropriate a physical object, nor deprive the copyright holder of the use of the copyright. That information can be replicated without destroying an original is an old observation,[56] and a cornerstone of intellectual property law. In economic terms, information is not a rival good; this has led some to argue that it is very different in character, and that laws for physical property and intellectual property should be very different.[57] A British Government's report, Digital Britain, characterizes online piracy as a form of theft: "Unlawful downloading or uploading, whether via peer-to-peer sites or other means, is effectively a civil form of theft."[58] [edit] See alsoFor a substantial discussion of copyright infringement in the domain of computer programs, see copyright infringement of software.
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