Copyfraud

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Copyfraud is a term used to describe the misuse of false claims of copyright.[1]

Forms of copyfraud include:

  • Claiming copyright ownership of public domain material.[2]
  • Copyright owner imposes restrictions beyond what the law allows.[3]
  • Claiming copyright ownership on the basis of ownership of copies or archives.[4]
  • Claiming copyright ownership by publishing a public domain work in a different medium.[5]

Copyfraud is usually successful because there are few and weak laws criminalizing false statements about copyrights and lax enforcement of such laws. Also, few people are competent enough to give legal advice on the copyright status of commandeered material.[6] The U.S. Copyright Act does not provide for any civil penalties for claiming copyrights on public domain materials, nor does the Act prescribe relief for individuals who refrain from copying or pay for copying permission to an entity that engages in copyfraud.[7]

In the U.S. Copyright Act, only two sections deal with improper assertions of copyright on public domain materials: Section 506(c) criminalizes fraudulent uses of copyright notices and Section 506(e) punishes knowingly making a false representation of a material fact in the application for copyright registration.[8]

Contents

[edit] Examples

  • In 2004, Ludlow Music, Inc. sued Jibjab Media, Inc. for its use of the Woody Guthrie song "This Land Is Your Land" in a video parody called "This Land".[9] Guthrie wrote the song in 1940, but published it in a pamphlet in 1945, which created the copyright date. The copyright was filed in 1956 and Ludlow Music filed a copyright renewal in 1984. However, the song passed into the public domain in 1973. The Electronic Frontier Foundation researched this case and presented its findings to the court, which resulted in a dismissal of lawsuit against Jibjab.[10]
  • The American Antiquarian Society web site states that images of its archived printed materials from the 18th and 19th centuries "must be licensed by the society in consequence of its proprietary rights."[11] [12]
  • Viacom, Inc. ordered YouTube in February 2007 to remove about 100,000 videos that were alleged to be clips of Viacom movies and television shows, from the YouTube web site. At least 60 of those videos did not infringe on any of Viacom's copyrights.[13]
  • In 2004, The SCO Group sued Novell, Inc. claiming that it owned the copyrights to the Unix operating system and Novell had infringed on its copyrights by adding Unix code to the Linux operating system. In August 2007, a court found that SCO's copyright claims were false and Novell in fact owned the Unix copyrights.[14]
  • In 2003, electronic voting machine manufacturer Diebold, Inc. threatened two Swarthmore College students with charges of copyright infringement for posting some emails from Diebold's archives that discussed problems with its machines. Diebold was sued by the Online Policy Group for violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act section 512(f) and had to pay damages of $125,000 to the students and OPG.[15]
  • In 1984, Universal Studios sued Nintendo to stop them from profiting on their new Donkey Kong arcade game, on the basis that Donkey Kong was too similar to King Kong, which they owned. In the end, Nintendo's lawyers showed that Universal had argued against RKO General in 1975 that King Kong was in the public domain. Nintendo also won the appeal, a counterclaim, and a further appeal.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Mazzone, Jason, "Copyfraud" New York University Law Review vol. 81 p. 1028
  2. ^ Mazzone, Jason, "Copyfraud" New York University Law Review vol. 81 p. 1038
  3. ^ Mazzone, Jason, "Copyfraud" New York University Law Review vol. 81 p. 1047
  4. ^ Mazzone, Jason, "Copyfraud" New York University Law Review vol. 81 p. 1052
  5. ^ Mazzone, Jason, "Copyfraud" New York University Law Review vol. 81 p. 1044–1045
  6. ^ Mazzone, Jason, "Copyfraud" New York University Law Review vol. 81 p. 1029-1030
  7. ^ Mazzone, Jason, "Copyfraud" New York University Law Review vol. 81 p. 1030
  8. ^ Mazzone, Jason, "Copyfraud" New York University Law Review vol. 81 p. 1036
  9. ^ http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/001765.php This Land isn't Your Land
  10. ^ http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/001840.php This Song belongs to You and Me
  11. ^ Mazzone, Jason, http://www.law.nyu.edu/JOURNALS/LAWREVIEW/ISSUES/vol81/no3/nyu303.pdf "Copyfraud" New York University Law Review vol. 81 p. 1053
  12. ^ Rights and Reproductions at the American Antiquarian Society
  13. ^ http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1173776610683 The National Law Journal March 14, 2007
  14. ^ http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,135858/article.html Novell Wins Right to Unix Copyrights
  15. ^ Online Policy Group v. Diebold | Electronic Frontier Foundation

[edit] External links