wordpress statistics

Copyright

Plagiarism- Your Rights Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Plagiarism is an unbridled problem on the internet and the only specific protections for content owners are under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.  Passed by the Clinton administration in 1998, this copyright law seeks to protect writers, web developers and content owners from illegal infringement and plagiarism by extending the reach of copyright law, thereby offering recourses in order to prevent, stop, and report plagiarism.

Plagiarism is all too easy on the web, but the Digital Millennium Copyright Act makes it all too easy to have plagiarized work taken down.  Under the DMCA, internet service providers are protected from liability for acts of plagiarism by their users.  However, websites are exempt from this protection, and if you request to have plagiarized work taken down, website owners and administrators must immediately comply in order to avoid liability under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Plagiarism and its Definitions: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Busting Online Copyright Thieves

This Document is Produced and Presented By Ultimate Book Warehouse


http://www.ultimatebookwarehouse.com

 


Introduction:



Busting Online Copyright Thieves

How safe is anyone’s copyright online? 

Well imagine my surprise when I clicked on a website link to 
discover that someone had not only copied my website to 
their server – but was selling my ebook and undercutting me 
in the process! Some dishonest person operating from Eastern 
Europe had literally stolen my entire business and I 
discovered it only by sheer luck. 

After some very lengthy and threatening emails I got them 
shut down, but the question remains, how safe is your 
copyright online and what can you do to protect it? 

Traditionally written works have enjoyed copyright 
protection not only through the rule of law, but also 
because of the physical difficulty in stealing another 
person’s work. Let’s face it, photocopying a 200 page book 
rates about as much fun as watching paint dry and at 5 cents 
a page you’re talking a quick ten dollar printing bill. 

Understanding copyright infringement

Copyright is something at is very important when it comes to the protection of intellectual property. So basically, what is all the fuss around copyrighting? Well, to be short, it is a law that will protect any kind of work like literary works, musical works, movies, radio broadcasts and so on, from being redistributed or aired by someone else, which is not related in any way to them. These are called copyright laws and they will never let anyone use the content other have worked to create without the sole permission of the authors or creators of that certain content.

These laws are usually very stringent and they will depend on the country where each of us will be living in. So yes, if you are dealing with Copyright Infringement you should know that you are in for some big trouble. Let us now take a look at the various types of works that can be a subject of Copyright Infringements and which we have already mentioned above:

Should I Use Copyright Law or Patent Law to Protect My Software

Throughout the evolution of patent law, case law destroyed the significance of copyright protection. In addition to the statement that copyright defence does not prevent against independent invention, but requires copying, menu edifices have been held to be not competent of copyright protection in a new case involving Lotus and Borland. Still, copyright protection can abide in addition to patent defence. Registration can supply some valuable benefits (e.G., provisions for attorney’s fees and statutory damages) at a cost of probable loss of trade secrets.

It is apparent that software patents are now here to stay, nonetheless of whether or not programmers wish for them to endure. The U.S. Supreme Court, in its latest Bilski conclusion, did not take the standpoint that software ought not be qualified to receive patent protection. If you encompass any doubts, merely go to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office website at and execute an agent search for any chief software company; you will realize that they possess many software patents. The law and U.S. Patent and Trademark Office practice regarding business methods, where no processor is essential, is not fullly resolved. There is no questioning that software can now be guarded by patent law.

Common Penalties for Copyright Infringement

Through reproducing or syndicating the creations of any copyright holder without any the permission to do so, you may be enchroaching on his or her privileges as stated in the Copyright Act. In order for the copyright to be enforced, it must be created with the U.S. Copyright Office, and also a claim describing the violation needs to be filed through a federal court.

A court can issue a court order to totally stop any sort of attempts it deems to be a violation. This will prevent the offending person or entity from ongoing use of or money from acts of copyright infringement. A court can alsoissue a brief injunction to halt a second incident of infringement while making the ultimate decision regarding if infringement has transpired.

Web Design and Copyright Infringement

Basically everything you see on the web is copyrighted as soon as it is put on the Internet. Pictures, videos, text, music and other Internet works are Copyright Protected. If you are considering Philadelphia web design to give yourself a web presence, remember not to “borrow” anything from another website without getting the written permission of the website owner. If you engage in Philadelphia web design without adhering to this simple rule of thumb, you are likely committing copyright infringement.

A friend of mine named Stuart Carpey is an accident attorney in Philadelphia, and he was actually the one who first pointed out that some of the images on my blog might be copyright infringements because I had not secured the express permission of Facebook (for instance) even though I used the Facebook icon on my blog post. Naively, I didn’t realize I was doing anything wrong because I saw plenty of other bloggers doing the exact same thing. Apparently we are all infringing on Facebook’s copyright by doing this. So now I’ve got to go back through all my blog posts and create a new graphic that I don’t “borrow” from anyone.

Understanding Copyrights And Trademarks

When creators of artistic and literary works are given legal rights, then copyright describes the process. Literary works that are protected by copyright include poems, novels, plays, newspapers, reference works. Artistic works which include drawings, paintings, sculpture, photograph, advertisements, architecture, technical drawings, and maps. Others are databases and computer programs, musical compositions, choreography, and musical composition.

Copyright is important to the creativity of every people. It gives them incentives either in the forms of fair monetary rewards or recognition. The creators are rest assured that they are protected from piracy or unauthorized copying thus they can distribute their works without fear. In return, it enhances knowledge, entertainment, and culture enjoyment across the globe.

Works that are originally created and covered by copyrights have some basic rights which can be passed on their heirs. They are holding exclusive rights to use or give consent other people to use their works through an agreement. The original creator can authorize or prohibit:

How Do I Know If I Need A Patent, Trademark, Or Copyright?

Step 1:  Understand What Patents, Trademarks, and Copyrights Are.

A patent is a a property right granted by the government to an inventor to exclude others from making, using, offering for sale, or selling the invention throughout the country or importing the invention into the country for a limited time in exchange for public disclosure of the invention when the patent is granted.

A trademark protect words, names, symbols, sounds, or colors that distinguish goods and services from those manufactured or sold by others and to indicate the source of the goods. In short, trademarks are your brand. Trademarks, unlike patents and copyrights, can be renewed forever as long as they are being used in commerce.

A copyright protects original works of authorship, such as writings, music, software code, and works of art that have been tangibly expressed. The Library of Congress  registers copyrights which last for the life of the author plus 70 years.

The Minefield That Is Copyright

Since the explosion of digital photography, and the rolling out of the wonderful internet and WWW, as a Yorkshire wedding photographer I have over recent years seen many, many photographers complaining about “Copyright Infringements” and also Customers of those photographers inadvertantly (or intentionally) breaking the Law.

Someone once said “The Law is an ass” and I have always belived this to be NOT true. The Law isn’t an ass, it is just that many people are not educated.

Copyright within the UK is a minefield, both for photographers, and for clients. With the Law constantly changing, misinterpretation and ignorance it is understandable that there is so much confusion.

If you take an image do you own the copyright? As a client are you allowed to use digital images supplied to you for things like Facebook or other Social Networking websites? If you are employed by another photographer to take images at a wedding or a portrait shoot, who owns the copyright?