Copyright infringement

Copyright infringement is a legal term referring to the unauthorized use of copyrighted material in a manner that violates one of the copyright owner's exclusive rights, such as the right to reproduce or perform the copyrighted work, or to make derivative works that build upon it.

Overview

The copyright law grants owners an exclusive right to control the use of their works in a number of ways, such as the right to reproduce, distribute, display and perform their works. Unauthorized use of these works in any of these ways constitutes copyright infringement.

Types of Copyright Infringement

There are two types of copyright infringement: direct and indirect.

Direct infringement occurs when a person directly violates one of the copyright owner's exclusive rights. For example, if a person copies and distributes a copyrighted book without the owner's permission, that person is directly infringing the copyright.

Indirect infringement occurs when a person contributes to or benefits from the infringement by another person. For example, if a person sells a device that enables others to copy and distribute copyrighted works without the owner's permission, that person is indirectly infringing the copyright.

Legal Consequences

The legal consequences of copyright infringement can be severe. They can include monetary damages, injunctions to stop the infringing activity, and in some cases, criminal penalties.

Defenses

There are several defenses to copyright infringement, including fair use, the doctrine of first sale, and the de minimis doctrine.

Fair use is a defense that allows limited use of copyrighted material without the owner's permission, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

The doctrine of first sale allows the owner of a legally acquired copy of a copyrighted work to sell or otherwise dispose of that copy.

The de minimis doctrine is a defense that the infringement is so trivial that the law does not take notice.

See Also

• Copyright
• Fair use
• Doctrine of first sale
• De minimis

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