Copyright Infringement in 2019
Copyright infringement happens when a person steals an artistic work. Examples would be a song, novel, or another artistic expression. The thief infringes on your work product without your consent. You are now in a situation where you have to enforce copyrights against the infringing party.
When hit with a claim of copyright infringement, you must first determine the authority of the work. For example, is your work independent? Is it creative? Is it something that is flowing from your own ideas and expressions? Or is it predicated or based upon someone else’s ideas or expressions? Answering those questions is critical in determining whether there is exposure or liability.
If someone commits copyright infringement against you, do the following:
- Check registration with the Library of Congress or the United States Copyright Office. Do this immediately before pursuing any infringing party.
- Hire competent counsel to write to the infringer to stop using your work.
- Determine the course of action you wish to take. Do you want to pursue litigation to enforce your intellectual property rights?
