Copyright fact sheet

copyright factsheet

A Reference Guide

Copyright protects the creator of their original material so that no one can copy your material or use it without your permission.

What is copyright?

$250,000

Copyright is a granted legal right to an owner of creative tangible intellectual property. Copyright acts as insurance that you are legally protected for your original content.

Downloading or uploading copyrighted work without consent and permission. copyright infraction can result in criminal penalties 5 years in jail and fines of up to $250,000 per offense.

Important Updates to DMCA

How to Avoid Copyright Infringement

1. Always seek to obtain written permission before posting original creators’ images or content to your own account. 2. Linking to the content used on social media protects you. Linking to the actual post is smart posting. 3. Develop your own authentic content. Avoid any copyright conflicts by using original content. 4. Aim to use royalty-free content found on Creative Commons, or Flickr. These images can be used freely because commercial or editorial use is established. 5. Be aware that content may have multiple layers of copyright. For example, a video of dancers, dancing to music would have layers of copyrights.

In 1998 the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) was passed. This amended U.S. copyright law to specially adress the connection between copyright and the internet.

1. Protects online service providers for certain situations where users engage in copyright infringement by creating a notice and takedown system to notify the service provider about copyright violations so that they can be removed. 2. Provides copyright owners with legal safeguards against unauthorized access to their works. 3. States that the removal of names of authors and copyright owners is unlawful.

Examples of Copyrighted Material

References D'Angelo, M. (2023, February 21). How to avoid copyright infringement in the age of social media. Business News Daily. https://www.businessnewsdaily.com/4693-legal-image-usage.html The Economic Times (Ed.). (n.d.). What is 'Copyright'. The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/Copyright Information Technology Services (Ed.). (2018, November 20). Copyright infringement (summary/potential consequences). University of Arkansas at Little Rock. https://ualr.edu/itservices/policy/copyright-infringement/ U.S. Copyright Office (Ed.). (n.d.). The digital millennium copyright act. U.S. Copyright Office. https://www.copyright.gov/dmca/#:~:text=In%201998%2C%20Congress%20passed%20the,between%20copyright%20and%20the%20internet.

Art, books, movies, music, computer software, website content