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Copyright lawyer Everything You Need to Know about a Copyright Lawyer Everything you may need to know about a copyright lawyer before you get one, there are so many different types of lawyers a little run down never hurt anyone. Copyright lawyers deal with many different subjects such as internet law, intellectual property, patent and trademark and of course your copyright laws. Each lawyer has gone to school for some time in order to get a degree to help you, which means they know more about the law than you do. Some mistakes website owners make is when they buy articles online; many times a buyer just assumes they have full copyright. This isn’t always the case, depending what was agreed on will determine who has ownership. In order to make sure you don’t fall into this trap have a lawyer set up a contract before you hand over any money, this way you know for sure if you have full ownership or if the writer does. There are actually three different categories that you may purchase an article, usage, full and unique. A copyright lawyer will explain exactly what each one means. Usage is basically meaning the buyer gets to use the article one time, but the writer can use it again or resell it. Full rights will give the buyer all rights; they can even place their name on the article saying they wrote it. A copyright lawyer will never tell you that you don’t have to register your copyright; in fact they will encourage you to do it. Sure, they get money to do it for you but you will have documented proof that you own the copyright. If you don’t file it, you can’t sue if someone uses your information. A copyright lawyer is not cheap, that means if you are just looking to pay out a mere $300 you are looking in the wrong field. Sure there are sites that offer to do your bidding for you. Are you sure they are someone you trust? Stick with your gut feeling, pay the money and have someone there to walk you through everything you need. Most copyright lawyers will have special discounts on packages, which means you’ll be getting a lot more than what you originally walked in for. Chances are your lawyer will even advise you of things you didn’t even have knowledge about. A copyright lawyer can help you better understand the laws of the virtual world, as well as the real world. Every day someone new is getting sued over content on the internet, it can be as simple as someone stealing an article, quote, song or a picture. A big issue is using another company’s name in your tags to get the search engines to rank you higher, you will get caught and when you do the fines are pretty steep. Other issues may be with bloggers today, be careful with what you say about your places of business, not only could you get in trouble for any copyrighting issues but slander is another big issue. Another thing you may want to know about a copyright lawyer is that you can use one even if you are actually getting sued. Many people only look for one when they want to copyright something or sue someone, but they normally don’t think about hiring a copyright lawyer when they are being sued. This is definitely the person you want on the job defending you if the time comes, after all they do know their job. That’s everything you need to know about a copyright lawyer before you get one, if you have any other questions call them up and ask them. Lawyers love to give advice, especially if they think you’ll be hiring them.

Copyright Infringement Statistics Copyright infringement statistics, by most standards are inflated. Most recent copyright infringement statistics cite that almost 30 percent of software is pirated in the United States of America. This means that they think 30 percent of the software on your computer is illegal… they think we’re all thieves, to an extent. However, copyright holders have good reason to worry that we’re violating their rules: the number of suspects referred to the United States attorneys with an Intellectual Property lead charge increased twenty six percent in the period between 2002 and 2004 – and there have been studies that show that this is rising. Copyright infringement statistics are difficult to come by, but it’s plain to see it’s affecting every aspect of intellectual copy. Copyright infringement statistics show that in addition to software privacy, there are a lot of violations in the music world. Copyright infringement statistics show that many unsuspecting people, from college students to thirty-something a professional, download music on a consistent basis, and often it’s not downloaded legally. Often times, someone will download a song off a MySpace or YouTube page, without giving thought to who really owns the copyright and if it’s legal for them to have it. Copyright infringement statistics, brought to us by the music recording industry, would have us believe that online infringement is seriously hurting the recording industry. A sensible person, however, would realize that with the abundance of MP3 sales sites that this will turn quickly and recording giants will see the huge profits available online. It’s already begun, you see, we have yet to see the impact of online music sales, and how it will increase revenue. I’m sure, with the huge talent pool at their disposal, the media giants will find a way to monetize the internet to their fullest advantage. Copyright infringement statistics also show that many people are downloading games off the internet. With the litany of games available to us – from complete alternate worlds such as World of Warcraft to the more mainstream “The Sims” series, people are clamoring for PC games – and for good reason. They’re fun, intelligent games that play on a system everyone has – a computer. Because of this, people are always looking for new games to play and download, and they may download a game without knowing that it’s not ‘freeware’ (as many internet games are). In addition to computer games, copyright infringement statistics also show that movies are downloaded in abundance on the internet. Many peer to peer file distribution sites and programs (such as bit torrent or Kazaa) allow for the transfer of very large files, and they’re easy to find online. Using a tool provided by one of many suppliers, users can search for any item they like – and, of course, the system is abused and people download copyrighted movies and entire DVDs instead of publicly available works. Copyright infringement also branches into written works, such as articles, books, poems, etc. Many times, a student will copy a paragraph or two without realizing the implications of such copying. While they may think of it as ‘borrowing’, if it’s used on a grander scale, the person could be opening themselves up to a large court fight, especially if it’s used commercially. As you can see, copyright infringement statistics show us that many people are using copyrighted works illegally. Do your best diligence when using another’s work – and ask for permission every time you want to use something that you haven’t created. Chances are, if you just ask the question up front you’ll save yourself from becoming another copyright infringement statistic and save yourself from a major lawsuit.

Software copyright act The Software Copyright Act was a Great Step in the Right Direction The software copyright act, which is actually called the Digital Millennium Copyright Act has given software developers a little more power when it comes to protecting their works. If you've bought software in the last few years I'm sure you've noticed some of the changes that have been made in the software buying process. If not, then you really should wake up and take note. Some of the more noteworthy achievements of this act are the following: 1) It is now a crime to go around anti-piracy measures in software. 2) It is no longer legal to make, sale, or give away software or devices that were invented for the purpose of cracking codes enabling the illegal copying of software. 3) Limits the liability that ISPs (as far as copyright infringement violations) when information is transmitted online. The problem isn't the people want to be bad or do something wrong. Most of us by nature want to do the right thing. The problem lies in educating people to the fact that it really is stealing when you bootleg, pirate, illegally download, or otherwise acquire copies of software that you didn't pay for. It's one of those 'white lie' types of crimes for most people and they don't really see how it will hurt anyone for them to copy a game that their brother, cousin, uncle, or friend has. Someone paid for it after all. The problem is that at $50 plus being the average price for computer games and simple software if 10 million people are doing it, the numbers are staggering and they add up quickly. The software copyright act sought to protect businesses from losing money this way. The software copyright act was the worldwide response to a growing problem. This problem was so widespread with illegal downloading of music that lawsuits and massive commercial ad campaigns were initiated in order to curtail illegal downloading activities when it comes to music. It seems to be working to some degree. Fewer people are illegally downloading music; the downside is that these people aren't buying as much music either. The reason is because they are no longer being exposed to the wide variety of music and artists that they were getting freely when downloading music each night at no cost. This equals lower record sales and is becoming a problem of lower movie sales and software sales as well. People aren't trying new games like they could before the software copyright act by going to LAN parties and everyone sharing a copy to play, now everyone has to own a copy before they can play. While this may be great for the companies that make a few (a minimal few at best) extra sales on the games for the sake of a great party but for the most part, it is costing them the extra money that could be made by 10 people finding they liked the game enough to go out and buy it so they could play it whenever (and the next group of 10 they will introduce the game to) Gamers are a funny group and software copyright act or no, they are going to stick with the software and games that serve them best. The software copyright act was created in order to protect the rights of those writing and developing computer software. We want those who fill our lives with fun games, useful tools, and great ways to connect to friends and family to continue providing these great services and to get paid for the ones they've already provided. The software copyright act is one giant step in the right direction as far as I'm concerned.