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Author Topic: how do i make sure i do not use copyrighted materials?  (Read 7077 times)

djsek

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how do i make sure i do not use copyrighted materials?
« on: October 21, 2008, 02:28:05 PM »
Oscar your response to my earlier post is appreciated.
Here is a question for anyone who knows the answer
How do i go about researching to make sure i'm not using copyrighted material on my site.I see you guys have answers for after Letter is recieved but wondering how to make sure it doesnt happen again
May not be something you have answer for so if someone could help out it would be appreciated

David

Oscar Michelen

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Re: how do i make sure i do not use copyrighted materials?
« Reply #1 on: October 21, 2008, 10:31:20 PM »
Dear David:

Good question and a tough to answer in this age of "right-click" to save and download.  Images and videos, etc are so easily copied these days that it would be easy to copy a copyrighted image without knowing. Purchasing a CD of images which contains an end user licensing agreement (EULA) that details the permissible use is one way of protecting yourself. Of course, going to a pay photo site like Getty's site and paying the license fee is also another way. You can also go to established free photo sites like www.sxc.hu  But the whole point of this site is to try to get Getty to understand that no one is in favor of using copyrighted material, but that there are better ways to address it than to instill fear into innocent people. Normally, if you use a copyrighted image by mistake you would get a letter telling you to cease and desist and you would take it down.  That would be the end of the story, particularly if you were not making money off the use of the image.  

Avoid using anything with a watermark obviously and read carefully the content of any site that you download from.

gettyvictim120

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Re: how do i make sure i do not use copyrighted materials?
« Reply #2 on: October 21, 2008, 11:24:54 PM »
While I don't dispute Oscar's advice, there is only one way to ensure you don't use copyrighted material and that is to take pictures yourself. I bought a website template that included pictures that were supposed to be available for my use. Unfortunately, the images were stolen from Getty's image bank and I became the possessor of stolen property.

There is no way to determine if a photograph is available or not. There is no national database or registry that can be easily searched to determine copyright or ownership. Many images have no embedded information or watermark. This is actually a flaw of recent copyright law which allows an assumption of copyright without any disclosure. Perhaps Oscar can explain this further. In any event, failure for conspicuous disclosure can lead to a lot of innocent infringement, IMO.

Oscar Michelen

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Re: how do i make sure i do not use copyrighted materials?
« Reply #3 on: October 22, 2008, 02:24:53 PM »
Dear Gettyvictim120:

Thanks for the great post reminding all of us that taking the image yourself is the only 100% safe method. The law is actually set up pretty fairly, but could be improved. If you have a filed copyright (registered with the Copyright Office)  you may be entitled to a whole host of statutory damages including legal fees, costs, etc. But there is a provision in the law that allows the federal court to reduce all of the damages to $200 per infringement if the court finds that it is an "innocent infringement."  If you don't have a registered copyright, then you are entitled to nothing but your "actual damages." You are not entitled to legal fees and costs. All you get is "How were you financially harmed by the infringement?" And that makes sense.  But Getty has twisted this around by demanding statutory-like damages when they don't have a copyright.  They also keep reminding all of us that you don't have to have a registered copyright to enforce a copyright and that lack of knowledge of copyright is no excuse. What they won't admit is that while all of the above is true, it is also true that lack of registration and lack of intent do make a difference with respect to how much you are entitled to receive in damages.

The only change I would suggest in US law (IMHO as the kids say) is to adopt a provision like they have in place in the UK that provides for no monetary damage for a one-time innocent infringement. Perhaps that's something we should start working for on this site - a petition to your congressman and senator to amend the Copyright Act of 1976 to help it catch up with the digital age. It's a thought.

mudpuppy

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Re: how do i make sure i do not use copyrighted materials?
« Reply #4 on: October 23, 2008, 01:23:19 PM »
Oscar states:

"The only change I would suggest in US law (IMHO as the kids say) is to adopt a provision like they have in place in the UK that provides for no monetary damage for a one-time innocent infringement. Perhaps that's something we should start working for on this site - a petition to your congressman and senator to amend the Copyright Act of 1976 to help it catch up with the digital age. It's a thought. "

...AND perhaps require a simple "Cease and Desist" order be issued as part of the process, prior to taking any further legal action?

I think we have established here on this forum that probably 99.9% of the people WOULD and DO, "cease and desist" the MOMENT there is any disput as to the legality of an image on their website. And as previoulsy stated, that would be the end of the story and everyone's integrity is preserved.

Lets face it, I think most would agree that your average "Company David" is NOT maliciously and purposely infringing. The vast majority of these cases are truly innocent, for the many reasons cited throughout this forum. Lets let the punishment ft the crime. And let there be a fair "process" that must be followed.

MP

 

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