Ways to Avoid Infringement
Copyright Infringement is something that creators might worry with. Writers, composers, artists, and film directors, alike must be sure that their work doesn’t infringe upon that of another creator’s existing work. Should you be in the process of creating a work, the ideas below might help to keep you away from copyrighting and infringement issues along the way:
- Identify the range of copyright law. Copyright laws protect several different types of works. Paintings, drawings, films, music and lyrics, photographs, choreography, as well as many other things. Generally, copyright laws do not protect fundamental ideas or facts.
- Don't take anything from the Internet. Information found on the Internet is almost always copyrighted. Works found on the Internet do not have to disclose whether or not they are actually copyrighted. It may be a good idea to assume everything you read online is, in fact, copyrighted unless otherwise stated.
- Do not confuse copyrights, trademarks, and other forms of intellectual property. Intellectual property can be quite confusing, for a better idea of what it is be sure to visit a previous post, here. Trademarks prohibit the use of specific words, marks, symbols and logos to distinguish your goods and services from others in the marketplace. Copyright protects an individual’s creative work from being used by someone else.
- Be creative. Have you ever wondered if your writing is infringing on the copyright of someone else? If so, that could be a good indication that it may be. A good question to ask is, “Does this work display my creativity or am I drawing from someone else’s creativity?”
- Familiarize yourself with the Creative Commons. Under this copyright, some authors will authorize other people to use, copy, alter or distribute their work. But be careful. The owner of the creative commons copyright can choose which rights he wants to protect and which rights you can utilize. And there may be a catch – the author may want attribution on your work. Public Domain essentially means that a certain work is not copyrighted. There are many reasons why works are considered Public Domain. For a better understanding of Public Domain and whether or not your work contains excerpts or ideas, generated from Public Domain works, contact Eldreth Law Firm, PLLC. Our entertainment lawyer might be able to help you better understand Public Domain laws, as well as copyright laws.
Infringement can be a confusing and scary thing to encounter. To get a better idea of what infringement is, be sure contact copyright lawyers Eldreth Law Firm, PLLC. You visit www.eldrethlaw.com, to contact us directly from the website, email us at law@eldrethlaw.com, or you can call (919) 833-5322.
