When you open this page on Facebook, the words whats on your mind appear here before one starts typing. How appropriate because I have lots on my mind. I received an email very recently from an acquaintance who told me a story which was very troublesome to me. If you care to know more then please read on but Im giving you fair warning, its is going to be a long read. Its all about copyright, a subject that kinda gets my hair to stand on end and make blood boil. The email that I was sent told me about someone locally who was photocopying a pattern(s) from a published book and was then selling the photocopied pattern! This is a blatant violation of copyright! Being a published author of 3 books and over 100 patterns both in the painting and quilting industry, I am very familiar with copyright laws. First and foremost, ignorance of copyright law is not an acceptable excuse or defence. Copyright protection exists from the moment a work is created in a fixed and tangible form of expression and the copyright immediately becomes the property of the author/designer who created the work. Only the author/designer can rightfully claim copyright. The ownership of a physical copy of a copyright-protected work permits lending, reselling, disposing, etc. of this item. However, it does NOT permit reproducing the material...and especially where theres a profit being made that is not given to the rightful owner...that being the copyright holder! To use copyrighted materials lawfully, you must secure permission from the applicable copyright holder. When in doubt, ASK! By reproducing, republishing or redistributing the work of a copyright holder without permission, you are violating or infringing on his or her rights under the Copyright Act and could be sued by the copyright holder for compensation. Court-ordered compensation may include damages such as loss of profits from the infringing activity or statutory damages up to $150,000, plus lawyers fees, for each infringing copy. Even higher damages may be awarded if the court feels that the infringement was committed willfully. Furthermore, you may also be criminally liable if you willingly copy a work for profit or financial gain which could result in a jail sentence plus fines. I am speaking from personal experience because when I found that someone had copied my work and sold it to an off-shore company to be reproduced for their personal gain, it really threw me for a loop. I felt as though I had been violated. If youd like to find out more, just click on the link to my blog post below where I wrote about it. So now Im faced with the dilemma of should I report this person who is actually stealing this designers profits or do I turn a blind eye? What would you do?
Posted on: Wed, 06 Nov 2013 18:28:16 +0000
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