An important fact to know is that if you post photographs or articles that you find on the internet on your website, Facebook or Linked-in page, you are violating copyright laws.
To begin, let’s understand that a copyright is an original work of authorship that’s fixed in any tangible medium. So if someone takes a photograph or writes an article, it is automatically copyrighted, even if it has not been registered with the copyright office.
If in fact the copyrighted material has been registered within two months of its publication or before you use it, the owner of the copyright is entitled to two very important legal remedies: one is statutory damages, and the other thing is statutory legal fees. This is a really a big deal because if you post a photograph that you find on the internet on your website or facebook page, the owner of the copyright is entitled to statutory damages of up to $150,000 per use and automatic legal fees for the attorney bringing the legal action against you. Of course, a more typical cost for damages can be about $2000 but that is still a lot of money.
Clients frequently call me because they have a photograph that it was illegally taken off the internet on their website that was put on by the builder of the site without their knowledge. The client typically receives a letter from an attorney demanding that the photograph be immediately taken down from the site and that several thousand dollars be paid in damages. I regretfully have to inform them that most likely they will have to remove the photograph and pay some damages because they are in violation of the copyright laws even though they didn’t realize that the web site builder had used the photograph.
You might think “how will anyone know that I’m using this one photograph?” The reason is that recently companies have sprung up that specialize in searching the internet for unauthorized use of their client’s photographs and articles.
Also, if you post copyrighted material without permission, the copyright owner can complain to the website host and they’ll force you to take it off and sometimes actually stop you from using your site.
Lately, if someone complains of an improper posting on Twitter, Twitter will take it off and leave some kind of note marking the deletion. To some, this might be considered a digital mark of shame.
We have over 35 years of experience in all aspects of intellectual property law.
If you have any specific questions or would like to schedule an initial, free consultation, don’t hesitate to contact us by phone or through the appointment box.
Post Date: July 14, 2012
