Copyright Infringement

Present by: Shao-Chuan FangJaime McDermottEmily NaginMichael PistonFan Yang

Computing @ Carnegie MellonGroup Presentation Date: 10/01/2009

Introduction• Violating the copyright laws or the exclusive copyrights of the

owner • Unauthorized use of materials from others• Exclusive Copyrights from Title 17 of the U.S. Code:– Reproduce in copies or phonorecords– Prepare derivative works– Distribute copies or phonorecords to public– Perform audiovisual works publicly– Perform sound recording publicly

Examples of Copyright Infringement

• Downloading mp3 from the internet• Screener DVDs from movie studios• Taping movies • Copy and Paste of text contents

Jaime McDermott

Digital Millennium Copyright ActEnacted 1998

• Outlines rules for a new generation of copyright laws with the Internet Revolution

• Gives protection to OSPs(including ISPs such as CMU or Comcast) provided that they follow certain rules

• Added Anti-Circumvention guidelines that prevent loopholes in the future by allowing for updates by the copyright office in the future.

Jaime McDermott

A & M Records, Inc. v. Napster, Inc.2001

• Failing to take steps against infringement, knowingly, and profiting from that infringement is grounds for Contributory Infringement.

• In this case, Napster had ads on its software, so it was profiting from users who committed copyright infringement, and the software company took no steps to stop infringement.

Jaime McDermott

MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd.2005

• P2P(Person to Person) software can be held liable for copyright infringement made by its users if “affirmative steps taken to foster infringement” were taken.

• Basically, if a software company refused to divulge information about its users, then the company itself could be liable for its users

Jaime McDermott

Perfect 10 v. CCBill LLC2007

• Placed the burden of prosecuting offenders of the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) upon the holders of the copyright.

• The only cases in which the government would prosecute DMCA infringers would be cases in which state or federal governments actually owned the item being infringed upon.

Ways to Avoid Infringement

Fan yang

Giving Credit

• Obtain the author's permission before using his expression of ideas or facts– Ex. Information from websites– avoid using large segments of someone else's

expression verbatim • Sometimes you do not have to get permission

from the creator, but you do need to give credit to the creator– Ex. Acknowledge the artist for a song you use during a

presentation

Other Strategies

• Use Public Domain images– Check the rules for a specific collection

• Use out-of-copyright materials– Published before 1923– Created before 1/1/1978 but not published

And why it’s considered such a problem

Punishment Due to Infringement

Mike Piston

Criticism of Copyright Infringement

• Copyright Infringement is considered a large problem because it is considered stealing and can result in a lot of trouble.

• It is extremely difficult in today’s society to limit copyright infringement due to the accessibility of information through the use of computers and the internet.

Mike Piston

Two Forms of Copyright Infringement

Civil• The civil penalties for

copyright infringement can also be broken into two more groups, whether or not they are registered with the Library of Congress.

Criminal• The criminal penalties for

copyright infringement are not as common as you would think. Some experts believe that there will be a significant increase in criminal prosecutions associated with copyright infringement sometime in the near future.

Mike Piston

More on Civil Penalties

• Penalties that are not registered with the Library of Congress require you to just pay back the actual losses sustained by the copyright owner as the result of the infringement. Which is the lightest possible sentence.

• Penalties that are registered with the Library of Congress make the copyright owner allowed to receive three times as much from the actually damage obtained. Excluding attorney fees these cases.

Mike Piston

More on Criminal Penalties

• One area in which criminal prosecutions have become very frequent is in the reproduction of copyrighted materials, mainly CD’s and DVDs that are mass produced.

• If you get caught for criminal copyright infringement, you face a possible maximum penalty of up to five years in prison and up to a $250,000 monetary fine.

Mike Piston

Reducing Copyright Infringement The best way to reduce copyright infringement is

to avoid it!•With the work of others

•When using someone else’s idea, music, image, or words in a paper, story, art piece, website, etc, be sure to give the creator credit and to use proper citation

•Always use quotation marks when quoting someone verbatim•You still need to cite a paraphrased idea if the idea is not yours•If someone helps you with a paper or project, write an acknowledgement and thank him or her

•Do not buy bootleg recordings of music or pirated movies•Do not illegally download music or movies—taking advantage of stolen information only makes the problem worse!

•With your own work•In order to avoid copyright violation of your own work, be sure to register your work with the United States Copyright Office. If your work is not registered and someone steals or copies it, you have no legal right to sue for copyright infringement.