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How to Avoid Copyright Infringement, Part Two

Welcome back. We are here to talk more about copyright infringement and how you can avoid it. Our Attorney in Raleigh NC is here to offer a few tips that you can follow.
Remember, in a previous blog, we talk about what copyright infringement was. If you missed it, we will recap, below.

Avoiding Copyright Infringement | Attorney in Raleigh NC

A copyright protects artistic works from being plagiarized or used without the original creator’s approval. It applies to literature, music, photographs, choreography and other artistic works. Note that ideas cannot be copyrighted. If you have an idea in your head for a story but never put it on paper, it is not considered a tangible work and cannot be protected under copyright law.
You may not realize it, but there are other ways to violate copyrights that you may have done without knowing, such as:

  • Downloading movies, music and podcasts without paying for them
  • Copying or downloading books without paying
  • Using other people’s photographs without asking or giving credit
  • Using someone else’s music in videos or photo montages
  • Recording movies in a theatre
  • Creating bootleg recordings of live musical performances
  • Using someone else’s source code to create your own programs or websites
  • Not crediting others when using their works on a blog

Keep in mind that copyright law does not protect ideas or facts. If you are thinking about a story but have not committed it to paper, you do not have control over it. It also does not protect expired copyrights, which are considered public domain. In the U.S. all works published before 1923 are considered public domain and not subject to copyright laws.  Fair use is also protected if a work is used for teaching or criticism.
Copyright law is also different from other forms of intellectual property such as trademarks, trade secrets and patents. The creators are protected under separate laws that keep others from using a brand’s likeness that may misrepresent them.
In the next part of this series, we will give you some tips on how to avoid copyright infringement. Stay tuned!
It's easy to make mistakes. Don't allow those mistakes to create problems for you in the future. Contact us for more information about our infringement services provided by our copyright lawyer in Raleigh NC, and other services that may be of use to you or someone you know.

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