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Copyright infringement insurance coverage
Do You Need Copyright Infringement Insurance Coverage?
People are creating more content now than ever: eBooks, blogs, web journals, MySpace Pages, Podcasts. Every where, in abundance, you’ll find people sharing their ideas and opinions, and creating entertainment for everyone. However, with all the resources available to us, how can we be sure that we’re not violating copyright law? Should we have copyright infringement insurance coverage?
Copyright infringement is the act of using someone else’s copyrighted material – in any form – in our own use without proper allowances. In order to be allowed to use the material, all we may need to do is ask and give the owner royalties, attribution, or some combination thereof. But, occasionally, it’s easy to forget that we need to ask before we use something without rights.
You’re allowed to use copyrighted works in a number of forms – educational and instructional uses, parody, commentary, and news are all forms where you don’t need to ask for use – it’s considered fair use under the copyright law. However, even if you’re using the item of copyright in one of these forms, it would still be wise to inform the owner of your intent before using it.
Of course, you should contact a copyright lawyer before using anyone else’s work(s), but to keep yourself safe, copyright infringement insurance coverage may be a good bet for you and your colleagues.
Should you have copyright infringement insurance coverage?
Although this is a new concept, it is one we should look at closely as creators. A well-known adage “there is no completely original idea” comes into play in our current age – while it’s entirely possible for us to have a thought, and act upon the thought – there may be, somewhere, someone who has created close to the same material as we have, without our knowing. Did we create it first? Did they? Would they be able to sue you for copyright infringement? These are the things to ponder as we create our media – should we have copyright infringement insurance coverage?
What is copyright infringement insurance coverage?
This coverage would be insurance for covering the cost to settle lawsuits brought in regards to copyright infringement – it would be a small amount of coverage. For example, you would only need around $5,000 to cover the court and attorney fees associated with a case, if a suit were brought against a person. Theoretically, you would only pay under $25 per year and would cover up to the five thousand dollar settlement should a case be brought against you.
How would you use copyright infringement insurance coverage?
Hopefully, you’d never have to use your copyright infringement insurance coverage. But, it would be there in case a charge was ever brought to you on copyright infringement
With so many of us – bloggers, columnists, podcasters – creating our own content, it’s in our best interest to consider something such as this. We may not always get the rights we need in order to use a work, either whole or in part.
As you can see, it can be critical to have copyright infringement insurance coverage as a blogger, podcaster, columnist, or other content creator. It’s imperative that we know our rights to use something (or to NOT use something) and what we can do to protect yourself. Copyright infringement can carry a serious penalty, and insurance coverage is a good way to insure that you’re protected from hefty fines. Talk to you current insurance provider and copyright lawyer to find out what you need to do, and what you need to know, to get proper insurance for your needs.
Understand Group Publishing (group publishing) When you want to have one your books published, you will work hard to get your book finished and then you will seek out a publisher. Sometimes it is very hard to find the right publisher, but the good news is that there are several different types of publishers that you can use to get your works on the market. Large companies are not your only option. The world of publishing difficult to break into and if you get an acceptance letter--that is only the start. There are many types of publishing companies out there and they all have a different way of publishing their products. Here is a look at some of the more common types of publishing including group publishing. Group Publishing: Group publishing is the process in which a large company publishes your work in the name of a larger company. For example, there are big name publishing companies out there. They operate smaller group publishing companies. The larger publishing company serves as a kind of umbrella over the smaller group publishing companies. Sometimes these companies operate several smaller companies that produce different genres of writing and books. This is also sometimes called trade publishing. For example, a large publishing group may produce best selling adult novels, but may also operate under a smaller name to produce certain non-fiction books, cookbooks or children’s books. Group publishing is a popular way to publish a book. Educational Publishing: Besides trade publishing, there is also educational publishing. These are companies that deal specifically with educational material. They may deal with only college textbooks, or they might deal with textbooks and materials for grades K-12. Besides textbooks, these companies might also produce other forms of educational material, which include posters, workbooks, CD-ROMS, software, testing material and maps. There are several big name educational publishing companies. University publishing—University Press: This type of publishing is not like group publishing and it is not the same as scholarly publishing. These types of companies are usually non-profit and are run by universities, colleges and even sometimes museums or other organization. These usually publish books by scholars and other specialists and they usually are used within the university system. Sometimes these books do get published by a larger trade publish; however, they do not market these types of books. Independent publisher: Independent publishers are often the best way to get your book published if you cannot find a publisher to produce your book. These are generally smaller companies that are privately owned. Many times, these companies only publish a handful of books each year and they usually are about certain subjects. They have the freedom to publish just about anything they wish. Software and other Media: You might not consider software and other types of media as being a publisher, but they are. Think of all the e-books, CD-ROMs and even books on tape that are on the market. These have to be published, too. These types of companies are often associated with larger trade publishers. In fact, many large publishing companies have their very own media publisher in house to take care of this type of publishing. It is a very large business and these types of publishers are just as important and lucrative as the large trade publishers. As you can see, there is a whole world of publishers out there waiting to get your book or other media published. If you do not have luck with a large trade publisher or group publisher, then don’t give up. Keep looking and the different types of companies out there until you find one that wants to work with you and your book. Events of copyright infringement The Events of Copyright Infringement: Innocent People Infringing Accidentally Copyright infringement is in the news a lot lately – it’s hard to miss stories about kids being carted off to jail or seriously fined for downloading music or movies off the internet. I’ve even heard about a lady was fined for tens of thousands of dollars because of the events of copyright infringement – her grandson downloading music, and she couldn’t prove it wasn’t her. The events of copyright infringement are complicated – and not easy to define. Surfing the internet has its advantages and disadvantages, that’s for sure. We’re able to find useful information quickly, but how close are we pertaining to copyright laws? Do we even know what is and is not acceptable? A couple of the more pertinent questions have been asked below: If you hear a great new band, and then download a song from MySpace, is that legal or not? The events of copyright infringement are not only limited by Kazaa, Morpheus, or some other file sharing peer to peer (P2P) service. If you download a song - no matter if you’re on a website or a MySpace page - and it isn’t coming from the artist themselves, you may want to think about downloading it. Chances are, if it’s not coming from them, you can’t have it – unless it is under a Creative Commons License. Creative Commons gives the exact ways in which you can use the license – and many times those are completely free and legal to download – so make sure you check if it’s under a CC License. If I’m writing a paper, or article, and I want to quote another website, can I? First of all, did you know the minute you write or create something, you hold the copyright to it? ESPECIALLY if you’re writing it online – it’s very easy to track things in the internet page. So, if you’re writing a blog, all the things you’ve written (no matter good or bad) are there permanently, thanks to archive.org, and you can review last versions of your web pages. Sometimes, people we can use – rather heavily – someone else’s work in our own, and think we’re small and anonymous. That no one will notice by the time you get it down – you’re just ‘borrowing’ it. Before you begin quoting anyone’s website – from CNN to your local neighborhood hardware store – you need to ask the person who holds the copyright if you can. Usually, they’ll let you if you attribute to them. Depending who you talk to, you’ll either have to pay royalties or license rights to republish. If you don’t ask before you quote, you’re beginning the events of copyright infringement and you are opening yourself up for a lawsuit. As you can see, the events of copyright infringement can begin at any time, beginning with normal ‘everyday’ activities. It’s just as easy to infringe on as it is to be infringed upon. Make sure you check your copyright using CopyScape or some other service, and you can check your work against other works on the internet, and make sure that you’re not infringing someone or vice versa. In this day it’s easy to protect yourself from getting infringed upon, and the events of copyright infringement are easy to track. It’s easy for innocent people to get caught in copyright infringement, like children they didn’t know what they could and couldn’t do. Make sure, in all you do, that you’re striving to do the best you can, and you’ll be certain not to fall victim to your own infringing demons. |