Penalties &
Infringement
Read
the text of the U.S. Copyright Act that pertains
to penalties and infringement.
Copyright
infringement is the reproduction, distribution,
performance, public display, or derivation of a
copyrighted work without the explicit
authorization of the copyright owner.
Infringement is a serious offense that violates
any one or more of the exclusive rights granted
to copyright owners.
Types
of Infringement
Copyright
infringement comes in three forms - direct,
vicarious and contributory.
-
Direct
Infringers
... violate a copyright owner's
exclusive rights.
-
Vicarious
Infringers
... may have the right to control
infringing activities.
... may expect to profit or benefit from the
infringement.
... may actively operate or supervise a
place where infringement occurs.
... may control the content of the
infringing program.
-
Contributory
Infringers
... are aware that infringement is
taking place.
... encourage, cause or contribute to
infringement.
Penalties
& Remedies
All copyright
owners have the right to seek recovery of actual damages
and lost profits when infringement takes place.
Infringement disputes are heard in federal
court, and when the plaintiff prevails, the court may:
-
issue an
injunction.
-
impound and
dispose of infringing articles and equipment
such as molds, master tapes, negatives, etc.
-
award actual
damages and lost profits proven by the
plaintiff.
-
impose
criminal penalties when
infringement is willfully committed for
commercial advantage or financial
gain or when in a 180-day period,
copyrighted works with a retail value of
$1,000 or more are reproduced and/or
distributed.
If the violated work has
been registered with the U.S. Copyright Office,
the courts may also:
-
award
statutory damages ranging from $750 to
$30,000 for the infringement of any one
work, and up to $150,000 in the case of
willful infringement.
-
award
attorney's fees and costs.
In
cases where the defendant proves that he was
unaware that he was infringing on copyright,
the court has the option of reducing statutory
damages to an award of not less than $200.
Non-Profit
Educational Institutions
Copyright law further limits
remedies that may awarded in the event of unintentional infringement on
the part of employees of non-profit public broadcasters or educational institutions
(i.e. colleges, universities, libraries, archives). A court shall
remit statutory damages as long as the employee is acting within the scope of his job and believes that his
use of the copyrighted material was protected by fair use.
Sources
Some of the information
used on this page came from these sources:
Disclaimer
Please note that the information presented
in the Online Copyright Center is for
information purposes only. It should not
be used as a substitute for actual legal
advice.