Myths Relating to Copyright
| Popular Myth |
Fact |
| If it does not have a copyright notice, it is not copyrighted. |
Almost all major nations follow the Berne copyright convention. In the USA, almost everything created privately after April 1, 1989, is copyrighted and protected, whether it has a notice or not. A notice strengthens the protection by warning people and by allowing the creator to get more and different damages, but it is not necessary. While there are some old works without the notice that have lost protection, frankly, you should not risk it unless you know for sure. |
| I was e-mailed a copy, so I can safely re-post it to a newsgroup or on the Web. |
To have a copy of an item is not to have the copyright. All the e-mail you write is copyrighted. If you want to stay within the law, you should ask the author before forwarding or copying his/her post or placing others' graphics or words on the Web. |
| If I place a "warning" or disclaimer on my site, it is OK to have sound recording files. |
It doesn't matter how many disclaimers you put on an MP3 site. If you reproduce and/or offer to distribute full-length sound recordings or samples of recordings (beyond fair use guidelines) for download without the authorization of the copyright owner (e.g., recordings on an unlicensed MP3 site or WAVE files), you are violating copyright law and could face civil as well as criminal penalties.
Placing statements on your Web site, such as "for demo purposes only" or that the sound files must be "deleted with 24 hours," does not prevent or eliminate this liability. (Check the "fair use" facts in this section and in the Multimedia section.) |
| If I don't charge a fee for downloading music files, then I'm not violating copyright. |
If you do not hold the copyright to the recording, you can't authorize downloads of it even if you don't charge a fee. (Items from previous myth apply.) |
| It's safe to download files if the server is outside the U.S. |
MP3 sites hosting sound recordings are not legal, even if the server is physically outside the U.S. because U.S. law may well apply when the uploading and downloading takes place in the United States and the server is physically located in another country. Second, the copyright laws of foreign countries are, in many cases, similar to those in the United States. |
| Posting other people's items or displaying them on the Web doesn't hurt anybody. After all, it's free advertising. |
It is up to the owner to decide if he or she (or the company) wants the free ads or not. |
| I got the program from the department's micro-lab computer. I paid a fee to use the lab, so I copied the software to use at home because the lab is full all the time. Besides, I need to work past the hours the lab is open. |
There are many computer labs on campus with hundreds of pieces of software. Some of the programs are shareware and freeware, which can be legally copied. Much, however, is not. The software in the labs has been purchased and registered for the lab network or its individual machines only. Any registered software copied from one of the lab networks, lab machines, or lab disks is a pirate copy. It is illegal, no matter what your reason for wanting to copy it. |
| I bought the software; it belongs to me to do with as I want. |
For most software packages, you are not buying the software itself, only the rights to use it. The software is owned by the company/individual and to use the software, you must agree to the licensing conditions in order to use it. Consider licensing agreements carefully before you copy. |
| On the same order...
I own the CD; I have every right to put the music on the Web, especially if I don't offer it for downloading. |
Whether you offer it for downloading or not, if you upload music from a CD that you own, it violates copyright law. Just because you own the CD does not mean you own the music itself. You can't put music on the Internet without permission of the copyright owners of the sound recording and the musical composition. |
| I made a copy (or bought someone's copy) of a live performance. It belongs to me, not the record company, since they weren't the ones who recorded it. |
There's a little matter of the federal Anti-Bootleg Statute (Title 18, USC, Section 2319A), which criminalizes the unauthorized recording, manufacture, distribution, or trafficking in sound recordings and music videos of "live" musical performances. |
| I just purchased an update to my program, so I can give the older version away. |
Updates are defined as enhancements to the original package. After the package has been updated, the old one should be either destroyed or put away as a backup copy only.
Note: Upgrades are considered new, individual programs, not extensions of the original. Make sure you know the difference before you hand the old package over to someone. |
| If I don't charge for the copy, it's not a violation. |
Whether you charge or not can affect the damages awarded in court, but that is essentially the only difference. It is still a violation if you give the publication/item away, and there could be heavy damages if you hurt the commercial value of the property. |
Federal Statutes