| Friend,
Lots of people bitch and moan about copyright laws. These are usually the same people who think everyone should have a free college education, free healthcare, and free everything they like.
They are also the type of people who generally don't pay taxes, and who haven't created a single useful or original thing in their entire lives.
The thing is, copyright infringement is great when it's not your stuff being ripped off. But when it's your stuff getting stolen and your income being impacted, it definitely sucks.
A high school friend of mine tried to convince me that when people pirate my original works, it's a "good" thing.
"It helps get the word out about your stuff," he told me.
So, I told him I was going to come over to his house, steal all his food, and give it away to random people on the street.
"You know, to get the word out about your stuff," I said. Then, I told him he could always feed his family on the increased reputation he'd get from me giving away all his food.
Unsurprisingly, he didn't have an answer to that.
Let's Talk About Fair Use
Anyway, there are actually certain instances when you can use someone's copyrighted works, under what is known as the doctrine of "fair use".
Typically, fair use falls under a few very sketchy situations: - Limited Portion Taken - If you are only using a very small portion of the work, it is generally considered fair use. For example, using short quotes for the purposes of writing an article, review, or commentary.
- Transformative Quality - Generally speaking, if you transform the original work into something new (a parody or a reference work that is not excessively derivative) then it's considered fair use. Thus, Weird Al Yankovic's entire career.
- Nature of the Referenced Work - The law tends to look more favorably on using material from factual works vs. fictional works, and published works vs. non-published. Also, it's rather difficult to prove fair use when borrowing from artwork, but with written works it's easier to defend.
- Deprivation of Market Value - If your use deprives the originator of income, or in some other way devalues the market for their original work, you're going to have a hard time arguing fair use.
Regardless of the circumstances, you should note that the originator of the work can still sue you for violating their copyright, regardless of your intent. That's why you need to be careful when creating derivative works.
When Everyone Loves Copyright Laws
I'll tell you when you're going to appreciate copyright law... and that's when someone rips off your original works.
Be it your school logo, the sales copy you slaved over night and day to get just right, the pictures you paid a professional photographer beaucoup bucks to take of your students, or the video you paid a professional videographer to shoot and edit...
...thing is, when someone else is profiting from your efforts without permission you're going to be glad you have the law on your side.
"What's The Big Deal?"
I know that some of you are still wondering, "What's the big deal?"
Well, consider this. Let's say you spent $1,000 to hire a film crew to come into your school to shoot a YouTube commercial. And, let's say you also spent another $1,000 to have it edited into a modern day work of art that would make Don Draper proud.
And you post that video on your site, on your YouTube account, and on Facebook, and people rave about it. Even better, it starts to bring in new students.
Then, your competitor down the street decides to strip out your contact info and use it to market their own dojo. Never asks you permission, just rips your stuff off and uses it for their own profit.
Would that piss you off? Damned straight it would! Not only are they stealing your work, they are also diluting your brand. And that, my friends, is what copyright law is for - to keep losers like that from stealing your work and profiting from it.
So, what do you do if someone steals your stuff?
Tomorrow I'm going to tell you your options, and what you can do to protect yourself no matter your budget.
Until next time,
Mike Massie MartialArtsBusinessDaily.com
P.S. - Stealing is stealing. People might think they're not hurting anyone when they download movies, music, or books for free, but in fact they are. They're hurting everyone from the person who created it, to the people who helped produce that work, to the distributors, to the customers who will have to pay higher prices to make up for their theft. Just something to consider. |
