Legal Letter for Copyright Infringement
There are also a few legal elements that could prevent a copyright owner from enforcing their rights. Keep in mind that these questions delve deeper into the real law and therefore it is likely that a lawyer will be needed to answer some of them. There are many factual questions that you need to answer before you can establish a clear course of action. You will need this information, whether you are responding to the letter yourself or have chosen to hire a lawyer. If you need to send or have received notice of copyright termination and forbearance, please contact us. Our intellectual property lawyers will be happy to discuss your case. The penalty for criminal copyright infringement includes up to five years in prison and maximum fines of up to $250,000 per violation. The notice threatens legal action unless the infringer stops profiting, claiming credit, or using your original work without permission. For more information, see our Guide to Copyright Infringement. If your declaration of cessation and forbearance is ignored, you have the option of bringing an infringement action against the party at fault. However, you must first officially register your original work with the U.S.
Copyright Office to take legal action. [1] Registering your work creates a public copyright registry, and anyone who wants to use all (or part of) that copyrighted work must first get permission from you, the owner. If you infringe an author`s copyright, the author may file a request for removal under the DMCA. The copyright owner may send you a notice of copyright infringement directly or use systems provided by platforms such as Youtube and Twitch. This notice is usually in the form of a copyright infringement letter or email. The amount you can sue for copyright infringement depends on several factors. There is no fixed amount and the courts will look at actual damages, profits and statutory damages. Going to court for copyright infringement can be expensive and time-consuming, so it`s worth calculating an approximate number of how much you could sue. The rightful owner (plaintiff) must collect evidence of where, when and how copyright is being used without authorization.
If shared or used online, screenshots and URL lists should be used. Under U.S. federal copyright law, a copyright owner may be entitled to damages ranging from $750 to $30,000 per infringement. If the copyright owner can prove that the infringement is intentional, the law allows them to charge up to $150,000 per infringement. Copyright infringement is the unauthorized use of copyrighted works (pictures, films, books, music). Use of these works without authorization (usually in the form of a license) violates the copyright owner`s exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, perform, or create derivative works of the original work. Step 3 – The name of the party to whom the letter is addressed is required first. The name of the work used without permission must be entered next. The second sentence must be supplemented by informing the addressee when the work is used without authorization. Their original works are protected by U.S. copyright laws.
[2] Once the impression of an idea is written, the work is protected by copyright and the owner has the exclusive right to use and display that original copyrighted work. In the end, all of these questions can come down to one question. Will it cost me more or less money to defend or capitulate the demands of the letter? This question is not necessarily easy to answer and it carries the risks associated with trying to predict the claimant`s likelihood of success in court. Of course, even if one knew for sure that their opposition would prevail in court, it is not obvious how much money he/she will actually make, and so it may simply make more financial sense to agree to a more modest settlement in advance. The most important date for submission is when the copyright owner must receive a response from the infringing party. In most cases, 7 days (5 business days) are granted. The justice system in the United States loves documentation and evidence; This cease and desist notice serves as evidence that you have notified the infringing party of its copyright infringement and deprives the infringing party of any legitimate claim of ignorance of its use of your copyrighted work. Once the request is complete, the next screen displays the copyrighted entries with the title, full title, copyright number, and date. There are several elements you need to ensure that they are included in your notice of cessation and forbearance of copyright infringement in order to make it as effective as possible.
All of the following are included in our copyright infringement template: Copyright Search — Official database to search for registered copyright ©. Write using our copyright infringement template and be sure to include the method of infringement, the original work, and the copyright registration number. Be sure to include a date when you expect a response. Often, in the heat of the moment, customers want to call the copyright owner or the copyright owner`s lawyer to explain their side of the story. While customers often have the best intentions when they do (Hey! They are human – they also have to make mistakes), this could potentially give the opposing party additional information that they could use against you in a case. It`s important at this point to be honest with yourself (and your lawyer!); What is the strength of a copyright claim in the letter? Did you really copy their work? All? Part of it? Did you know that you copied their work before copying it? Did you make money from counterfeit work? How much money? Over what period of time? Depending on your answers to these questions, your strategy for responding to the declaration of copyright cessation and forbearance will vary. You may need to meet all of the requirements, some of the requirements, and/or none of the requirements. Similarly, depending on the strength of the claims, it may be advisable to respond to the letter or ignore it completely. For example, if it turns out that the infringing work had a copyright registered with the Copyright Office, the plaintiff`s options are much stronger and they will theoretically be able to recover legal damages and even attorneys` fees if they prevail. These are strategic issues that must be based on a good understanding of copyright. The modern trend does not give negligence to copyright infringers – recent jury awards ranged from $675,000 to $1,000,000.
A jury in Washington State, in the west of the country, awarded a copyright holder more than a million dollars in damages for the unauthorized use of 5 images. The key here is not to panic. The cost of a copyright owner`s participation in litigation is extremely high (think 6-figure amounts), so the likelihood that someone will want to bring a copyright infringement lawsuit before a jury is low. That`s because they don`t want to take the risk of losing. However, you should always try to respond to the notice of copyright infringement in a timely manner. Copyright omission is a letter sent to a person or entity that has infringed an © owner`s proprietary information, which typically consists of physical or electronic media. Due to the difficulty of searching for copyrighted recorded material, it is recommended to use the word «copyright» or «» © with the year of creation to protect media files. To send a letter of cessation and forbearance of copyright infringement, send it by registered mail with acknowledgment of receipt.
This ensures that you are notified when the letter is delivered and that it has been accepted and signed by the recipient. It can also help your case in court. If the copyright infringement is serious and it is not enough to simply stop the copyright infringement, you should meet with your lawyer during the response period and prepare to take the case to court. Sending by registered letter with acknowledgment of receipt is very important if the case is to be brought before the courts to prove that the defendant has been sufficiently informed of its unauthorized use. The final step in responding to your notice of cease and desist is to respond to the copyright owner (or their lawyer). It is highly recommended to contact a lawyer to respond to a copyright infringement. But if you choose to do it yourself, there are two things you need to keep in mind: In general, ignoring a notice and/or notice of cessation and abstention is a bad idea. While it may be tempting to ignore the letter, delete the image, and hope the problem goes away, ignoring a copyright claim letter will result in an additional expense of resources to protect one`s copyright. If the copyright owner has to spend additional resources, it can increase the amount of damages that the copyright owner can claim against you or your business. An effective copyright infringement letter consists of several parts: Once all the information has been gathered, a letter must be written by the aggrieved party or their legal counsel.
With the copyright notice, you ensure that the unauthorized use is fully illustrated and that all evidence is attached to the document. For now, imagine that a news article copies an entire paragraph of text from another trusted source to deliver a specific message.
