What is Copyright Infringement?
Copyright infringement is when a person distributes, copies or incorporates (into their work) a copyrighted work (song, video, text, etc), without permission from the rights holder. The author of the work is not necessarily the rights holder, as is often the case in the music industry.
You can sometimes use a small portion of a copyrighted work, under specific circumstances, because of fair use (see below).
How to Infringe on Copyright
Imagine you are making a five minute video, addressing poverty in Africa, that you plan to distribute free of charge. You have a perfect U2 song and decide it should be the background music.
Using the U2 song may be against the law, without express permission from Universal Music Group, the rights holder. The procedures for requesting permission for this sort of work are often a maze of corporate bureaucracy. If you're lucky enough to secure permission, you'll probably be asked to pay sizable licensing fees.
Your Rights: Fair Use
You may legally incorporate small portions of any copyrighted work into your own work, so long as you follow these vague guidelines, laid out in the Copyright Act of 1976... (Click to expand)
It Doesn't Seem Fair!
US copyright law is complex, especially regarding music and movies, and rights holders are sometimes litigious and aggressive. As a result, building upon other people's work can seem overwhelming and even scary. This is why we recommend marking your work as Creative Commons, and likewise building upon other CC'ed works.
Interestingly enough, copyleft systems, such as Creative Commons and the GNU Public License (Linux, Firefox, etc.) rely on copyright for their effectiveness. A person not meeting the 'Share Alike' clause in a CC'ed work is actually liable for copyright infringement.
The Public Domain
A work finally becomes completely useable by the public when the author has died and 70 years have passed. However, copyright terms have increased sharply in the past six decades, making less work fall into the public domain.
Copyright and Digital Don't Play Well Together
Because computers can make copies so easily, US copyright laws have become very controversial.
Find and share resources on copyright in the digital age
We Are Not Lawyers
This is our official, we aren't lawyers, so don't sue us for your copyright mishaps disclaimer.
We're always looking to improve these guides.
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