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Copyright infringement case Learning Copyright Law through Copyright Infringement Cases Copyright infringement cases can be both costly and time consuming. Considering copyright infringement is something that isn’t as easily defined as theft or speeding, there are numerous copyright infringement cases that are changing the way copyright law is viewed in the United States of America. By reviewing a few of these copyright infringement cases, you’ll be able to get a better idea of what is, and is not, acceptable use of copyrighted works. As a forward, however, you’ll need to know a little bit about copyright law. Most copyright lawsuits are brought to the courts because a copyright owner has found their copyright is being used outside the copyright laws. This usually means that the copyright holder hadn’t been asked for permission to use the work, or if they had, that the work is not being used in an agreed-upon context or they have not been paid royalties. The copyright infringement cases, listed below, give a sampling of what goes to the Supreme Court in copyright infringement. Feist Publications v. Rural Telephone Service Co (6th Cir. 1996) This copyright infringement case was brought upon the Supreme Court in 1996 regarding the copyright of a database. The supreme court, in this instance, decided that compilations of data (such as in a database) are only protected by copyright when they are “arranged and selected in an original manner.” Although the level of originality needed to make the database copyright-able is not very high, the pages of a directory such as a phone book are not protect-able because the data contained therein is arranged geographically, then alphabetically. Because of this, the data was not original enough to warrant a copyright infringement charge, and the competing telephone company was allowed to tap into their competitors’ database and use that data in their own work without liability. Princeton University Press v. Michigan Document Services, Inc (6th Cir 1996) This case has to do with the ‘fair use’ law, which is defined in the Copyright Act of 1976, 17 U.S.C. § 107. In this case, a photocopying service was sued for copyright infringement for making ‘course packs’ for the University of Michigan. In this case, a course pack was a group of reading materials assigned by a professor – then the course pack was bound together by a professional copy shop. In the fair use system, there is a system available for payment of copyright fees to publishers whose works are used in course materials, the printing shop owner refused to pay the copyright cost. When it went to the Supreme Court, they analyzed the fair use code and found that it was NOT fair use, and the printing shop had to pay the copyright costs. As you can see, copyright infringement cases are cases in which someone violates the rights of a copyright owner, as provided by 17 USC §106, or of the author as provided in §106A. These copyright infringement cases can be taken to either criminal or civil court, and can carry with it a hefty fine. Copyright infringement cases are brought upon people who violate copyrights every day. In recent times, you’ll find many copyright cases in relation to electronic copyrights – such as those you’d find on a website or PDF file, as well as other digital media such as music and audio files. It’s probable that you’ve seen copyright cases brought against the common person – such as a child or family – for downloading digital music in the form of MP3s. In the current internet age we’re in, it’s not surprising to see so many music and video copyright cases brought to us because of peer to peer file sharing made possible by the internet. You can be certain that until people know the rules of copyright, and downloading copyrighted material from the internet that we’ll see many more copyright cases.

International Copyright Law Surprise! There Is No International Copyright Law Many people are surprised to learn that there is no international copyright law. Yes, that is right. There is not an international copyright law that will protect your work on the other side of the world. However, it is important to note that most countries do offer some form of protection to what is deemed as “foreign” works. International conventions and treaties have done much to protect owners of copyrights around the world. With the world seemingly becoming smaller every day the United States took a look at its stance on the European copyright treaty known as the Berne Convention. Basically, the Berne Convention of 1886 involved European nations coming together to seek a uniform copyright law to keep their copyright owners from having to register for copyrights in individuals European countries. The United States signed on to the Berne Convention introduced made it into a U.S. law known as the Berne Implementation Act of 1988. If you are seeking to have your work protected in a particular country you need to find out what kind of protection foreign authors have in that country. Some countries offer little or not protection to foreign authors. It should be noted that the U.S. Copyright Office is not allowed to give authors recommendations or the names of attorneys or agents that could help them understand foreign copyright laws. However, with a little investigation it is not hard to find someone who is an expert on foreign copyright law. These individuals can help you learn more about copyright protection and how your work is deemed in a foreign country. Someone who works in international copyright law will tell you that it is different than most other sectors of law. It involves knowing the copyright law of two or more countries. Every country has their own way of granting and protecting someone’s copyright. The individual criteria of each country must be taken into consideration when you are dealing with international copyright law. It is important to note that some countries do not have any intellectual property rights and some countries even grant more copyright protections than even the United States. International copyright laws involve understanding international treaties and conventions, like the Berne Treaty and WIPO Copyright Treaty listed above. If you are interested in pursuing a degree in law, you may want to explore the international copyright law sector. With the world becoming one big neighborhood, you will probably not lack for work. People that have copyrighted works need to be aware that there are differences in the copyright laws in some nations. While it is true that the United States has signed treaties with some nations, your work will not be protected in every country of the world. As stated, the United States is a member of the Berne treaty. In addition, the United States is a member of the WIPO Copyright Treaty. This treaty works in conjunction with the Berne treaty yet it also covers and gives protection to databases and computer programs. If you would like more information on international copyright law you should check with an attorney who specializes in international copyright law.

Craigslist a Great Place to Find Free Stuff – While Exercising Caution of Course Craig Newmark of San Francisco founded Craigslist in 1999. Craigslist is a web page that offers anybody to sell or by articles virtually free of charge. Some of the categories such as job ads in some of the major cities have a charge, which is the funding for all the other private, free ads on Craigslist. Currently the web page is available in approximately 450 cities all over the world. IT serves more than nine billion viewers per months and therefore gives the web page a ninth place in the rankings for most frequently used web sites in the United States. The web sites offer over thirty million new postings and classifieds each month. Categories for classifieds and advertisement range from job and housing postings over traditional buy and sell classifieds all the way to community events and personal ads. Since Craigslist offers so many different ads and classifieds each month, it is also a great place to find free stuff. Many people that are about to move or have top give up a hobby due to whatever reason often times offer things for free on this web page. Generally ads and classifieds are divided by categories and then listed on the pages depending on the proximity to a major city. Many major cities in the United States have their own Craigslist. Classifieds that are posted on a city site generally are from somewhere in the proximity of the city. Often time’s sellers expect the buyer to pick up the merchandise. Therefore, it is not unusual to find car ads, fitness equipment, baby clothing and items, furniture and more on the web site. Posting is for most classifieds free and there are also no fees for anything else. In contrast to some other pages, posting a used children’s toy, a piece of furniture or similar as well as anything else is completely free. The seller has the possibility to stay anonymous till shortly before the sale, when the seller decides to hand out his or her telephone number or address for sale purposes only. Of course such classifieds and advertisements can also be cons and need to always be handled carefully. Generally a good judgment of the price and offer helps to prevent from falling for fraudulent classifieds. Even though there are measures from the creators of the website to prevent fraud such as official statements and more, there is no guaranty that a fraudulent add will be taken off in time to prevent any trouble. So whenever buying or selling on Craigslist do it with caution. Craigslist offers classifieds for anything. Community, housing, personals, jobs, for sale, services, gigs and even discussion forums are all part of the web site. On this website anybody can post anything. Therefore it might take some time to find the right ad. It might even be possible that the chosen product cannot be found. Craigslist works like an online yard sale or a flea market. Therefore finding the exact product may be hard. But sometimes getting lucky is all that it takes and then the seeker is united with the product of desire. This web page should be used and supported by anybody and everybody. Whatever there is for sale, it should be put up on Craigslist, so that other people can male good use of a product that might be a good product for someone else for a few more years. Even jobs can be found on Craigslist. In cities such as New York, this web page’s jobs are one of the most important sources for job hunters and therefore are not free of charge for the employers that are posting in some of the bigger cities.