Welcome to elreno.org

Copyright Infringement Play It Safe: Making Sure You're Not Committing Copyright Infringement Copyright infringement is not an easy thing to explain. While it may seem as simple as not using someone else’s work, it’s not that easy. Thanks to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and many other organizations, we have the ability to use others’ works – as long as we use it under ‘fair use’ laws. So what does fair use have to do with copyright infringement, and how can you utilize it? Fair use laws are the conditions in which you can use a copyrighted work without having to pay someone royalties. This includes when you use a copyrighted work for educational or instructional uses, criticism of the work, commentaries on the work, news reporting about the work, teaching on the work (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship uses, and research. This is talked about fully in Section 107 of the Copyright Code (commonly called Fair Use) and is available for you to read at your local library. Copyright Infringement in day-to-day life Sometimes, if you’re writing a paper for work or school, or if you are creating a Power Point presentation, you need to use someone’s work that is already in copyright. So how do you use it without committing copyright infringement? All you have to do is ask – the worst they can say is no, right? But, if they do say no, there are several items in the public domain which may help you to finish your project without having to commit copyright infringement. What is the public domain, and how does it relate to copyright infringement? Material that is not copyrighted is considered in the public domain – you cannot commit copyright infringement on works in the public domain. These works include things that the copyright has expired on, or is not copyright-able – such as government publications, jokes, titles, and ideas. Some creators (writers, musicians, artists, and more) deliberately put their work in the public domain, without ever obtaining copyright, by providing an affiliation with Creative Commons. Creative Commons allows people who create materials to forfeit some, or all, of their copyright rights and place their work either partially or fully in the public domain. So, how do I ensure I’m not committing copyright infringement? First of all, if you’re going to use someone else’s material, you may want to check the public domain to see if something is suitable for use, instead of trying to use someone else’s copyright. However, if you can’t find something suitable (and you can’t create something yourself), the next best thing (and your only legal course of action) is to find a piece that is in copyright, and contacting the copyright holder. When you contact the copyright holder, make sure you tell them what you want to use their piece for – whether it’s for your blog, podcast, or report – and ask them if you can use it. You may have to pay royalties, or an attribution in your piece, or a combination of both. The creator may also place many limitations on when and how you can use their material. Follow all these instructions they give you, and you’ll be free and clear to use their work as you want. Once you have permission to use a copyrighted work, you need to make sure you stay within the agreed-upon boundaries - if you veer outside their agreed terms, you may open yourself up for a copyright infringement lawsuit – which can be nasty, costly, and time consuming. If you’re in doubt, before contacting the copyright holder, contact a copyright lawyer to ensure you’re following the law – and protect yourself!

Turning your Eye to Government, Nonprofit or Small Business for you Next Job The type of business you work for can effect your job satisfaction. Your personality type may also work out better at certain types of businesses. Research different business types before going on your job search. Working for a small business or a non-profit definitely has its pros and cons. First of all, getting hired at a small business can be much easier than landing a position than at a corporation. Typically you will only have to go through one person to get the job. Usually the small business owner conducts the interview. This can be a good thing because the business owner may be willing to overlook a lack of experience or extenuating circumstances concerning your work history. Nonprofit jobs are often easier to get if you are passionate about the cause. The person that is doing the hiring is generally passionate about the cause that the nonprofit is working to assist. If they pick up on passion about the cause from you, typically you will get the job. However, that passion is necessary because they pay may not be very much. Working for a smaller company also opens up more opportunities for promotions. With fewer employees and contact with the owner, you may be able to move up in the company faster. You will be able to pick up on skills in less time than at large corporations, which often have many hoops for one to jump through before training for a new position. There may be a smaller window of time to pick up on new skills because of the limited amount of time that can be put towards training. Nonprofits may not have as many opportunities for promotions and job stability may be questionable. If the donations stop coming in or whoever funds the nonprofit decides not to fund it anymore, you could be out of a job. This is a very real concern with a nonprofit job. There are some drawbacks to working at smaller businesses. Sometimes, the staff at smaller businesses have been in place for years. New, younger employees may not be viewed favorably. This could affect working relationships with co-workers. Smaller companies also mean smaller paychecks. Independent businesses are not able to generate large paychecks. This could make staying at a small business undesirable. However, the personal interaction between you and your boss could be encouragement to stick it out with a small business. Or the opposite could be true. Government jobs can be beneficial to have for a number of reasons. First of all, government jobs offer good salaries and great benefits. You will have all government holidays off and you will be working in a position that is necessary to the maintenance of the government. That means that you probably won’t have to worry about being displaced. Although, remember that if the government runs into tough times, layoffs are possible. Government jobs are usually normal business hours but not always. There are some positions that will have hours that extend a little bit beyond regular business hours but for the most part, you will be able to enjoy your life by taking advantage of vacation time. Sick days will also be available at government jobs. Some of the drawbacks of government jobs are that you may have to deal with a large amount of on the job stress. You may be responsible for processing hundreds, maybe even thousands of cases and one mistake could be very tragic for an individual. Depending on what your position is, you may be instrumental in handling paper work from a huge amount of people.

Copyright music free Getting Copyright Music Free can Pay the Artists There are few people that will allow you to use their copyright music free. If you've found a person or a business that is willing to allow this then either consider yourself extremely lucky or start searching for the very fine print. Most people feel a certain kindred or passion for the music they like and they aren't overly willing to part with it at all unless they feel it is their calling to share this music with the world. In those circumstances you will be amazed at how eager they are to share their "message". I however, worry more about those that are eager to share than I worry about those who say no rather quickly and without sending another thought your way. Call me crazy but I'm usually the first one to give my things away and to share when I don't really have that much to begin with. I believe in sacrifice and the need for giving to those who have less or those whose needs are somehow not being met. This makes me a prime candidate for those who would ask me to share my copyright music free. I'm afraid my answer to that question is almost always going to be a no of my own. That being said I've always held a special fondness for musicians. Perhaps it's those teen crushes from which I've never fully recovered-ahem-2 or 3 years later. The problem today is the people are downloading copyright music free online without regards to the fact that when they get it free, someone isn't getting paid for their talents, efforts, and hard work. There are alternatives that will allow you to download the music really cheaply or pay a subscription fee for a service that allows you to download all the music you want for one set amount each month. These services allow the talented writers and performers of this music that adds so much to our lives each and every day to get paid for their labor. Paying for the music in this manner also allows us to enjoy that music while cutting out the middlemen and markups we often pay when purchasing music at retail prices. You do not have to get copyright music free in order to enjoy a wonderful bargain and when you pay something for your music you are ensuring that these talented writers and performers will find it profitable to continue providing this music that entertains you so much. We all enjoy getting things for free or feeling as though we've gotten a terrific bargain. That is one reason that subscription services are so wildly popular. You pay one price for the privilege of downloading as much music as your hard drive and modem can handle each month. It's like paying one fee and enjoying copyright music free except that you are actually paying for the music you are getting in other ways. More importantly though, the artists, writers, and recording companies are getting a piece of the profit pie, which keeps them in business. After the recent problems involved with massive and illegal downloading of copyright music free, recording companies began putting their proverbial feet down and demanding that action be taken. The solutions have been quite clever and highly effective. Consumers were much more willing to pay a monthly subscription fee that amounted to the amount of money that one CD would cost in order to download unlimited music from their homes. Record companies are getting paid for work that has already been done without the need actually produce, deliver, transport, and market their new CDs. This is copyright music free in its best form for all involved.