Legal and Justice Book

Posts Tagged ‘Criminal Penalties’

A copyright owner has the exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, manipulate and perform her work, and to authorize others to do so.

Anyone who is not the copyright owner and takes advantage of any of these rights for a copyrighted work, without the copyright owner’s permission, is guilty of infringement. The copyright law of the United States addresses infringement, including the penalties for doing so.

Injunction

If a copyright holder files suit for infringement, the court may grant a temporary injunction at any time while the suit is pending.

This injunction may become final at the conclusion of the suit. The injunction is valid throughout the United States and enjoins the alleged copyright violator from continuing infringing.

Impounding and Disposition

At any time while an infringement suit is pending, the court may also order all existing infringed copies of a copyrighted work to be impounded. As part of a final judgment, if infringement is found, the court may order these copies destroyed.

Damages and Profits

A copyright owner is entitled to any actual damages he suffers as a result of the infringement. Any illicit profits that were acquired as a result of the infringement are included in this calculation. Instead of attempting to calculate actual damages, the copyright holder may elect an award of statutory damages, which is subject to the court’s discretion.

Costs and Attorney Fees

In a civil action for infringement, a court can award the full cost of the action to the prevailing party, including attorney fees. The statute does not restrict this award to copyright owners, and courts can also award related costs to a defendant if the plaintiff fails to prove her infringement case. Read the rest of this entry »

When a copyright is violated, a copyright holder can ask a court of law to grant an injunction against an individual or entity that is infringing on a copyright.

A copyright holder can also seek monetary or statutory damages for the violation of copyright.

If the infringer is found guilty by a court of law, there are criminal penalties that can be leveled against the infringer.

Injunctions

A temporary injunction prohibits an individual or an entity from continuing to violate copyright until a trial or other court action is taken.

A permanent injunction is a final court order that prohibits an individual or an entity from permanently violating copyright.

Monetary Damages

Actual damages are the actual losses experienced by a copyright holder when a copyright is violated.

Profits are the money earned by the individual or entity when a copyright is violated.

Statutory Damages

A copyright holder can request statutory damages, which are calculated per work infringed.

In “innocent infringement,” the range of statutory damages is $200 to $150,000 per work.

In “willful infringement,” the range of statutory damages is $750 to $300,000 per work.
When Statutory Damages Are Not Available

Statutory damages are not available if the work is unpublished and the copyright violation took place before the effective date of registration.

Statutory damages are not available for published works if the copyright violation took place after the first publication and before the effective date of registration. Read the rest of this entry »