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Defining Piracy

Piracy was once a word synonymous with the sea and rebellious sailors sailing across the ocean and plundering merchant vessels en route to their destinations. In more recent years, however, piracy is a word having to do with plagiarism. Most specifically, lawsuits against piracy is being aimed at online downloads/uploads where individuals are sharing content they are not supposed to be sharing. Digital piracy has been a hotly debated topic in recent years as many companies are insisting they are losing out on revenue due to the digital information that some individuals are sharing freely on the internet. Copyrighted material belongs to either an individual or organization, and unless you are given permission to share this information in certain ways, you are illegally sharing this information wherever you post it.

For instance, millions of videos have been uploaded to Youtube to be shared with friends and visitors. Some record companies have been contacting posters on Youtube and baring their horns due to the poster posting a song or piece of content on their account for others to see. According to these companies, this is infringing on their sales and the individual is liable to be sued. However, to date this war on digital uploading/downloading has largely been a failure due to the common internet user’s rights being protected under the First Amendment.

In order to avoid problems, each user needs to be aware of what he or she cannot do. For instance, you can only use up to 3 minutes of any copyrighted video, and it cannot equal more than 10% of total content. You are unable to post any full video or to keep your creation online for more than two years, at which point you will need to revise it. However, you are allowed to cut and upload anything you wish as long as you do not go above the aforementioned limits (Fair Use).

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2008 11 08 eLawFacts copyright
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Taking a Close Look at the Broadband Data Collection Bill

The Broadband Data Collection Bill is the latest attempt by the government to examine the coverage and pricing options of current broadband providers across the nation to discern where coverage is available and if the pricing options are fair. For years now the government has stated that 200Kbps was considered “high-speed internet” despite the needs of the internet and the common user for a higher speed in order to care of all of the consumers needs online. This new study has raised this speed to 768Kbps to 1.5 Mbps, and is attempting to learn all that it can through smaller government agencies in order to promote safe child activities on the internet and encourage more providers to offer services.

It is hoped that by tracking internet usage, it will allow the government to understand the needs of the average consumer. However, many consumers are expressing concerns that this new bill will only lead to new taxes and other restrictions on their internet rights. Indeed, some past studies have ended in exactly this result so some fears may be well founded. Regardless, it is important for this study to be commenced in order for more broadband providers to offer higher levels of internet speeds at lowers prices with greater coverage.

As of 2008, coverage extended supposedly into rural areas with at least seven providers being available per area. However, the Broadband Data Collection Bill will examine how accurate this coverage map really is and will work to provide more grants for businesses wishing to offer broadband coverage. In addition, more grants will become available to increase the frequency of this and other studies in the hopes of providing more broadband services like the United Kingdom, which is completely covered by high-speed internet, or Japan whose internet speed is far beyond our own.

2008 11 01 eLawFacts broadband
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Contributory Copyright Infringment and Illegal Linking

Contributory copyright infringement is the act of linking to or transmitting information on how to access copyrighted material illegally from another source. For example posting a link to an illegitimate download of a song would be contributory copyright infringement. You might not be hosting the song on your server, and you might not have been the one that ripped it and put it online but you are still responsible for giving access to it.

Another example is embedding copyrighted music videos from YouTube. Some may try to claim that because it is hosted YouTube they can embed the video on their site without an issue. This is entirely wrong. Thousands upon thousands of hours of video are uploaded to YouTube by users every day and it is impossible for them to screen it all for infringing content. It is your responsibility, not YouTube’s, to check if the content you are posted is copyrighted. YouTube is protected by safe harbor acts which means it is not liable for content uploaded by it’s users as long as it complies with any DMCA(Digital Millennium Copyright Act) notices sent to it by copyright owners. Another individual uploading the material or linking to it is not protected under safe harbor laws and thus can be liable for the contributory copyright infringement. Continue reading ›

2008 10 02 eLawFacts copyright Comments (0) Permalink

Are Warez, Piracy and Torrent Downloads of Copyrighted Material Illegal?

The answer is yes, downloading or streaming copyrighted material without purchasing legitimately from it’s owner is illegal. The source of the download does not matter, whether it is from LimeWire, BitTorrent, Youtube, Newsgroups or even physical sources like a flash drive. That doesn’t mean that illegal downloading doesn’t happen on the internet, because it most definitely does.

Most forms of copyright infringement that happen on the internet are without monetary gain, unlike say someone selling bootleg copies of a DVD on the street. In the United States illegally downloading copyrighted materials without monetary gain is not subject to criminal proceedings, only civil cases. This means you cannot go to prison, but could still face a lawsuit and lawyer fees amounting to thousands of dollars. Continue reading ›

2008 09 18 eLawFacts copyright Comments (0) Permalink

The Difference and Definition of Copyright and Trademark

The terms copyright and trademark are two of the most frequently confused terms in the world of intellectual property. Basically copyright pertains to original works and who can reproduce Knowing the correction definition of each is key to a greater understanding of just how copyright and trademark laws work, so pay attention here. Also note the example of each to enhance the original definition.

Copyright - The owner of an original works right to reproduce and control how their intellectual property is distributed or sold. For an artist or author to get the copyright to something all they need to do is put it in a tangible form, however it is also possible to register the copyright officially for a small fee. The owner of a copyright retains the rights for the length of their natural life plus 70 years. For example, when an author writes a book they hold exclusive rights to reproduce the books content so that others may read it. Authors usually seek the assistance of a publisher for the resources to print the book, market and sell it to people. Copyright law prevents other companies from simply stealing the books content and printing it themselves for profit. Continue reading ›

2008 09 07 eLawFacts copyright
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