Source: Online-Paralegal-Degree.org
Wednesday, 8 January 2014
For your delectation and possible dissection: a Copyright Troll Infographic
This blogger receives offers or requests on a pretty well weekly basis from people who compile infographics on a variety of issues. Most are of only tangential relevance to IP law or of no relevance at all. However, the infographic below is right on target so far as copyright is concerned, bearing the title “What Every Website Owner Should Know About Copyright Trolls”. There are two things that should surprise no-one. One is that the law cited is that of the United States; the other is that there's nothing on the infographic to say so. Readers' comments are of course welcomed.
Source: Online-Paralegal-Degree.org
Source: Online-Paralegal-Degree.org
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2 comments:
The info graphic is misleading to the extent that it says that a troll owns the copyright, hence has standing to bring a cause of action.
In the best known cases of this sort (Righthaven, Prendalaw, Media CAT for instance) the problem was that the court found that the complainant/plaintiff was not the owner or lacked standing in some similar way. Since this deficiency generally only becomes apparent at the time of the trial, the pre-trial shake-down phase can be lucrative even for trolls with no legitimate claim to the copyright in the disputed work, provided that they avoid taking the matter to litigation.
U.S> copyright law protects the "expression", not the "idea" as suggested by the graphic.
Also, it worries me that there is no mention of copyright older than 1978. In the U.S. works as old as 1923 may still be under copyright (assuming proper notice and renewal.)
But on the whole, I can support the purpose of the graphic: know your rights, don't be bullied.
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