Copyright infringement: new traps to avoid.As vigorously as companies work to ensure that their own copyrights aren't being infringed, today's easy access to electronic information makes it increasingly important that they also be wary that they aren't--inadvertently or not--infringing on other companies' copyrights. One frequent mistake is sending copies of subscription-based email newsletters from employee to employee when a company has only one or a handful of subscriptions. A copyright case filed by a financial newsletter publisher against a major securities firm resulted in a nearly $20 million jury verdict against the firm for copyright infringement Noun 1. copyright infringement - a violation of the rights secured by a copyright infringement of copyright plagiarisation, plagiarization, piracy, plagiarism - the act of plagiarizing; taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own in 2003--one of the largest amounts awarded in a copyright case. "There's a widely held misconception mis·con·cep·tion n. A mistaken thought, idea, or notion; a misunderstanding: had many misconceptions about the new tax program. that everything published on the web is free and not protected by copyright," says Robert S Robert, Henry Martyn 1837-1923. American army engineer and parliamentary authority. He designed the defenses for Washington, D.C., during the Civil War and later wrote Robert's Rules of Order (1876). Noun 1. . Weiner, senior vice president at the Massachusett-based Copyright Clearance Center Copyright Clearance Center (CCC) is a not-for-profit U.S. company based in Danvers, Massachusetts, that provides collective copyright licensing services for corporate and academic users of copyrighted materials. , a nonprofit organization Nonprofit Organization An association that is given tax-free status. Donations to a non-profit organization are often tax deductible as well. Notes: Examples of non-profit organizations are charities, hospitals and schools. that was founded in 1978 to facilitate the exchange of copyrighted information. "In reality, the opposite is closer to the truth--although it's not helped by the 'printer-friendly format' and 'email to a friend' options that can be found on many content providers' websites." Legal experts agree. "As easy as it is to press the 'forward' button that you've got on email, it's also important to respect the rights of the publishers," says Thomas Olson, a partner in the Washington, DC, office of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, which also goes by the shorter market name WilmerHale, is a leading American law firm with major offices in Washington, Boston and New York and smaller offices in Palo Alto, Baltimore, London, Brussels, Beijing, Berlin, Los , who has represented numerous clients in copyright infringement matters. "Employees need to be educated that forwarding a costly subscription-only newsletter without permission is wrong and can have serious consequences." Electronic infringement is easy to trace and track. "If there is evidence or allegation of copyright infringement, the fact that something's been sent electronically makes it that much more easily recorded and discoverable," Weiner explains. "People infringe in·fringe v. in·fringed, in·fring·ing, in·fring·es v.tr. 1. To transgress or exceed the limits of; violate: infringe a contract; infringe a patent. 2. on copyrights all the time without even realizing it," adds Nels Lippert, co-vice chair of the Intellectual Property Department of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr. "Whether or not inadvertent, copyright holders are now enforcing their rights against small companies as well as against large institutions." |
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