Q: How do I approach someone who I believe has infringed my copyright?
Apr 26 2011
Answered by: Gary Johnston Ask a question
Copyright comprises a broad bible of intellectual property (IP) rights so it is imperative from the beginning to understand the nature of that copyright and the rights that accrue from ownership. For example, copyright applies to dramatic works, music, literary works including song lyrics, website copy, instruction manuals, books and business reports, artistic works including photographs, paintings, sculptures and even a work of artistic craftsmanship such as an immaculate piece of jewellery.
Whilst it may seem that anything you create attracts copyright protection, this is not always the case. Originality is the cornerstone. In addition, different forms of copyright attract diverse durations of protection. Most importantly, whilst most copyright does not require any registration, it can be very costly to enforce since you have to be able to prove that the offending party has in fact copied your work, rather than created an identical or similar work without reference to your earlier work. This is a fairly tough hurdle, and the legal costs involved can be considerable.
When approaching a third party whom you suspect may have infringed your copyright, you should first seek the advice of an IP attorney in order to establish the validity of your rights, and the likelihood of success. There is a danger that if you email or write to the suspected offender yourself before taking advice you may be deemed to have been making undue threats and find yourself facing legal action as a result. It is better to be informed and have an attorney act for you. In any account a letter from an attorney will be taken far more seriously.
Prevention is better than cure when it comes to copyright, so make sure that you mark your work as subject to copyright using the C symbol alongside the date of production, and keep copies of your drafts to prove that you created the work yourself. If you write software then include lines of redundant code in order to catch out anyone foolish enough to copy and paste.
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