Consider this scenario: You’ve decided to add some exciting new products to your online catalog, so you get busy pulling together marketing write-ups, product photos, and pricing information. You copy and paste the photos from the manufacturer’s site, then upload them to your Web page. You stumble onto some great product descriptions that detail the product benefits nicely. You copy, paste, and upload that to the Web page as well. By late afternoon, you’ve updated your catalog and are thrilled that you can offer more products to your customers–all in just a few short hours.
But there’s only one problem. You may have just violated copyright laws. Worse, you are in danger of potentially having your site shut down–and being taken to court–because of these infringements.
What is Copyright Infringement?
Copyright infringement, as it relates to the online world, involves the unauthorized use of content, images, photos, or graphics. It spans a wide range of situations–from the blogger who incorrectly uses a section of text from a published online journal, to the freelancer who lifts a graphic image from one site to use in a banner design for his client, to the professional scam artist looking for easy prey.
As you can imagine, infringement on the Internet happens all the time. Perpetrators frequently do it knowingly and intentionally. Perhaps they want to steal business away from a site so they create virtually identical Web pages to lure (or trick) paying customers. Other times, phishing artists upload bogus sites that mirror real ones in order to facilitate identify theft. In some instances, people are simply taking shortcuts or are unaware that when they want to use existing content or images from another Web site, they must first obtain permission.
As a Web-based business, you need to be aware of the issue of copyright infringement because it occurs across all types of ventures and industries–from psychics to IT service providers to dog trainers. And it is critical that you understand both your responsibilities and your rights. That way, you can be sure not to infringe on someone’s rights and at the same time, you can protect yourself, your business, and your brand.
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Interviewee: Linda Larsen
About the Interviewee: Linda Larsen has been a corporate paralegal for over 20 years, specializing in Corporate Law, SEC Compliance and Intellectual Property. For the past 8 years her primary focus has been Intellectual Property. Larsen currently acts as the Designated Agent for Network Solutions, LLC, addressing matters related to copyright infringement.
This article was written in conjunction with Kim Murphy, a freelance writer with 23 years’ experience writing and producing results-oriented materials for print, presentations, and the Web.
Legal Disclaimer: This article is not meant for legal guidance and should not be considered legal advice. Please consult a lawyer for the issues railed in this article.