Erin Austin: Hello, welcome
to this month's LinkedIn live.
If you are new here, I do
these every, last Wednesday
of the month at noon
Eastern, or I talk about
topics of interest for B2B
experts in protecting and
leveraging our expertise.
So I have been doing a series,
and this is the 3rd, the
last of series of 3, this
is the 3rd installment of
it where I'm talking about
copyright infringement.
Now, this is being recorded
for my podcast hourly to exit.
This will be episode 67 and
so if you haven't listened to
the last couple of episodes,
episode 65 was the 1st of the
series where I talked about.
What exactly constitutes
copyright infringement?
Believe it or not,
copying someone's work
doesn't always involve
copyright infringement.
and sometimes things that
you didn't think would be
copyright infringement are.
And so go back and
listen to that one.
If you haven't heard
it, I also talk about
what the penalties are,
what the remedies are.
which includes civil remedies
as well as criminal penalties.
Yes, there are circumstances
where copyright infringement
is a crime and can even
result in imprisonment.
And then episode 66 was part
2 where I talked about how
to not accidentally infringe
someone else's copyright.
Because some things that
we think are innocent,
but are actually copyright
infringements are still
infringements, and
there's this thing called
statutory damages that
are available even for
innocent infringements.
And so we want to make sure
that we are, respecting
each other's rights.
I like to call it, you do
on to others as you'd have
them do on to you with
respect to your intellectual
property and your expertise.
And so we want to be
respectful of everyone's.
Intellectual property rights.
these are episode 66.
We talk about how to
make sure we aren't
through our negligence
or through our ignorance,
infringing other people's
intellectual property rights.
So, today in part 3,
we're going to talk about
prevention measures.
And how to make sure that
we don't become a victim of
copyright infringement now
with that, I will say that,
it's virtually impossible
to prevent, copyright
infringement, there are
just the bad actors, right?
We know that there are
certain places that are
known for, their piracy
and we could spend a lot
of time, a lot of energy,
without much return trying
to prevent every instance of
copyright infringement and
I don't want you to do that.
I don't want you to become
obsessed with that, but
there are a combination
of legal, technical, and
some practical strategies
that we can use to reduce
the likelihood that your
copyright will be infringed.
And if it is infringed,
that you'll be able to
access 1 of the remedies.
So, 1st, the simplest, we
should all do it, which
is the copyright notice.
I can never tell if
you can see the bottom
of my slides or not.
I do have a copyright
notice on my slides.
I have them on all of
my slides and it is very
simply the C in a circle.
The year, and that would
be the year of publication.
So, let's say you,
started writing your
novel 5 years ago.
You're finally
ready to publish it.
that year would be the year
publication and your name.
should say the
copyright owner's name.
for instance.
In my slides, it has Aaron
Austin Law PLLC because
that is my employer.
And as my employer, it
owns the copyright and all
the things that I create.
And so that would be the
name of the copyright owner.
and the all rights reserved.
I don't know.
Sometimes I use that.
Sometimes I don't.
but basically, it's not
because it's required because
your copyright will attach.
Regardless of the copyright
notice it attaches at the
moment of creation, but
this is the way you put
it's literally the notice.
It puts the world on notice
and we're most concerned.
I mean, again, the
bad actors, good luck.
You're not going to stop them.
Right?
But from Pete from the
innocent infringers or
the negligent or lazy
infringer, that puts them
on notice that, something's
up on the Internet.
It actually isn't just there
for your free use, someone
claims copyright ownership
in it, and that is what your
first line of defense, or
first line of offense, is
letting people know that
you are the copyright owner,
and no, you just can't use
this without my permission.
And then the next line would
be registering your work.
Yes, you know, again,
the copyright protection
automatically attaches
when it's created, but you
do need to be registered.
That work needs to be
registered with the U.
S.
Copyright Office in order
to enforce your rights
against an actual infringer.
So if we go back to episodes
65, where I talk about the
remedies and the penalties.
work does need to be
registered in the US
Copyright Office in order
to access those remedies,
and those penalties and
not a super complicated
process, but it does have,
little bit of cost to it.
There is an
application process.
and so I don't recommend it
for everything you create.
If you're anything like
me, you're creating
content all day, every day.
But I do recommend it for
those, parts of your work
that you would go, I want
to sue them for taking
that, whatever that is.
Like they, took my book,
they took my course they
copied my whole website.
You these are the things
that you would hire
a lawyer to enforce.
Those are the things
that you want to have
registered and you need
to understand and use.
Contracts, we're going to talk
about licenses a little bit
more later on, but what some
people don't understand is
that your client agreements.
Include a license to use
your work and so you need
to make sure that the
parameters are clearly stated
in that contract agreement
about how your client can
use or reuse your work.
And so, when you have that
clearly stated in your
agreement, then you can access
those remedies if they use it
in a way that's not permitted
under your client agreement.
Talk about this a lot in other
trainings, because it is so
important in the work that
we do when we are experts
with corporate clients.
We are entering these
agreements all the time.
The client friendly
language that you may
be presented with.
You do need to look at it,
understand it and make sure
you are limiting client's
ability to reuse materials.
Watermarking.
So now we're going to get into
some technical, ways to, the
first three would be legal.
these would be some
technical ways you can
help deter infringement.
So watermarking.
Now, I will say that if anyone
out there has experience with
some of these techniques,
Technical measures, because
I personally do not.
I'd love to have you
share them with everyone.
So we can kind of think
about how we might be able
to use them in our businesses
as well as the cost.
I have not kind of put
some cost to these either,
but watermarking is way
that you can put something
that's either visual.
Let's say it's a
photograph that is in
there that says, that.
Someone else owns it, or
just couldn't even say
watermark so that someone
just can't take it and
stick it on their website.
they would have to
literally kind of.
I'm going to go through
the effort of removing this
watermark so I can use it.
That will keep something
from just very casually
taking your work and they're
also invisible watermarks
that can be detected, only
through use of some other
technology that would read
where the source of something
is, with someone has.
A copy of something that
they are permitted to
have it, but they're not
supposed to make copies
of it and distribute it.
You can have that
watermark in there.
So if it shows up somewhere,
like, that come from that?
You can go in and
decipher that watermark
and it will tell you.
Who created those copies?
And so that is another way
to prevent distribution
without your permission.
Digital rights
management or DMR.
That's a kind of
software as well.
Of course, not free, but
it is embedded in digital
content to make sure that you
control how it is distributed.
So it can prevent it from
being, further distributed.
Like, if you get something
on Kindle or audible, it'll
prevent you from just kind
of sharing it with everybody.
when you get a new laptop or
desktop, and it has software,
like, there's a version of it
in there, but you have to have
a key in order to unlock it.
That is a version of D.
R.
M.
I read this, although I
wasn't aware of this, and
hopefully you can confirm
this that apple iTunes use D.
R.
M.
to limit the number of devices
you can use, the music with
and wasn't aware of that.
but those are ways that we
can prevent it from being, uh,
distributed outside of the U.
S.
So, if you want to make
sure that your materials
don't leave the U.
S.
you can use as well.
that is a little bit
of a heavier, lift.
so that would be for something
that, obviously is very
valuable to you that you
really want to control.
Online monitoring tools
is another 1 that, very
effective, but expensive.
so, for instance, if you
have, or you've probably
heard of someone receiving
that cease and desist letter,
we'll talk about cease and
desist letters in a minute.
So.
from Getty images saying,
hey, I noticed that you
have 1 of our images on your
website and they send you
a license agreement for it.
Well, they're using
online monitoring.
So they have a way of
something to troll the
Internet and to pick up any
use of 1 or their images.
I imagine they have their
own bespoke software
to do that, but you can
also, subscribe, for that.
Um, and so you can find,
any other use of your
materials on the internet.
one of the suggested ways
of using this, which is I
think is kind of interesting,
which is basically the
Getty Images model.
Is that you find people who
are using your materials and
you use it as an opportunity
to get a license from them
to continue to use it.
if you rather that they
continue to use it and get
paid for it, rather than
have them take it down.
and so maybe you'll
even find that there is.
Some part of your content that
is frequently used, and maybe
that would be something that
you would want to create some
sort of licensable content
out of that, because you
know that there's actually
a demand out there for it
and some practical things,
offering a legitimate way to
access your materials kind of
back to the last point, there
may be things that people
want to use, but it's just.
Kind of a lot of work to
figure out how to do it.
How do I get a license?
Who owns it?
What do I have to do?
and just from that alone, it
creates enough friction that
they just kind of take it
and hope nobody notices, I
think this probably happens
a fair amount in connection
with, presentations where
people will go, you know,
I want to refer to this
graphic or this book or this.
Thing, and do I need
to get a license?
Can I have
permission to use it?
Well, I don't have the
time or the resources
to figure it out.
So I'm just going to use it
and hope nobody notices and
probably nobody does notice,
but we do want to make sure
that we are complying with
the law because of somebody.
Does notice it is in fact,
copyright infringement,
and there are statutory
damages attached to
those infringements.
And so I like to encourage
people, if there's
something that there's
an easy way to give them
access to it, then do it.
I mean, for me, it
is on my to do list.
I don't know even what number
it is on my to do list, but
is to get creative commons
license, which I talk about.
Thank you.
A lot in the prior episodes,
those are standard licenses
that have predetermined,
terms for how someone can use
your copyrighted material.
And so you can have a creative
common license that says, hey,
you know, you can use this.
For commercial purposes,
but you have to give me
attribution, or you can only
use it for non commercial
purposes, or, you can use it.
So long as you don't
change anything.
And so that gives
a very easy way.
People can see right on There
are symbols that tell you
how you can use this work,
and be in compliance with.
The copyright license
to use that work.
And for me, I have a ton of
free content and I am happy
for people to spread the word.
I want everyone to
spread the word that is
everywhere and that, know,
we can create scalable
and saleable businesses.
I want the more of the
people talk about it,
the better it is and in
achieving, my mission to
make sure we help more
wealth in the hands of women.
And so I'd be happy to
have people use my free
content, but I would like.
To get credit for it.
So I like from the use
it with attribution.
I would not like someone
to take my free content
and package it and sell it.
So I would like them to
use it, but use it in a
way that there it's also
free non commercial use.
So, when we make it easy
for people to license our
materials, then they're
more likely to, comply
with those licenses and
not get sneaky about it.
So, I do like that.
and the other ways is just
to have it on a platform that
can do that for you, such as
if you are a photographer, or
you have a course, when you
put them on a platform where
people can just automatically
access it, it will have the
terms of how you can use
that material right there.
They don't have to
negotiate anything.
They can see right there.
They don't have to.
Have a nervous conversation
that can just get access to
it and use it within, the
bounds of that license and
then educating the public.
It's important that we
have these conversations.
It's important that if you
have a community, especially
for those of you who are
business coaches for us to
talk about how important it
is for us to respect each
other's intellectual property.
And, I know.
Business coaches that you
get questions from your
clients about, Can I use
this book in my course?
how do I prevent my, client
from your use my materials?
can I use this thing
off of the Internet?
And these are things that we.
Can educate ourselves
about through things like
this to make sure we kind
of understand the basics.
No, 1's trying to, make you
an IP lawyer, but just to
understand the basics of what
good intellectual property
hygiene is, maybe put it
that way to talk to our
communities about it as well
and keeping records, I wish
I had an example, maybe I
will try to have an example.
The next time I talk about
this is that, if you don't
register something, like, I'm
not going to register this,
presentation, when somebody
steals it, like, it's good to
have a record to show that.
You were the originator
of that material.
You don't want someone to
steal your material, register
in the copyright office,
and then say, hey, she's
infringing on my rights.
You want to make sure that
you're able to show when
something was created,
who created it and,
have that documentation.
Let's say you hired
a contractor to
create something.
So you hired someone to.
create your logo and you
think it's original and
you're using it, but then
they use that same logo
with somebody else thinking
you're never going to notice.
And then you have a conflict,
making sure that you have
documentation to show that you
own something is important.
So it's important to keep
records, as well, and then
limit distribution, back kind
of to the DMR, being about
where you put things, you
there's some places where you
have a more sophisticated.
Audience that's unlikely
to steal your materials,
things that you publish
on linkedin, the things
you publish on medium,
things that you publish.
Well, I don't know about
YouTube, but, that people kind
of understand that they can't
steal it may be some other
places, where if you publish
things that it may be more
of a free for all atmosphere.
And it's even possible that
it says somewhere in the
terms and conditions that
anything that you publish
here, you give a license
to that platform or to that
website to use it as it will.
It says that in terms of
conditions that by publishing
something there, you're
granting them a license.
So you need to be aware of
where you're publishing things
and what the terms of that.
And then actively
enforce your rights.
So to that cease and desist
letter, if you find someone
has stolen your materials
and they're using it in
a way that you think is
a copyright infringement,
then you should send a
cease and desist letter.
it is something that,
obviously has more gravity
if it comes from a lawyer,
but it doesn't have to.
there are.
examples of cease and desist
letters on the Internet.
It is on my to do list to
have a sample for you to use.
I will, Do that and let
you know when I have one of
those available for free, to
send to the infringer saying,
hey, I saw that you have
republished my website as your
own and it demands that they
cease and desist distribution
of your materials.
And, of course, you reserve
your rights in case you need
to take it to the next step.
Another way is through
a takedown notice.
And that is something that
you send to the ISP, like,
so let's say you see, you're
on YouTube and you see that
somebody has uploaded a video
of yours and so you would send
a takedown notice to YouTube
and,, they're very clear, like
the statute says exactly what.
The takedown notice needs
to say, and you follow, and
the ISP should also have
that in their terms of use.
They should also have
what you need to do them
a takedown notice, who you
send it to, and then the ISP
is obligated to take to act
on that if they don't want
to be, accused of covering
infringement themselves.
And then, if these, kind
of less formal, techniques
don't work, you've sent your
cease and desist, you've
sent your takedown notice,
someone still continues to
infringe, or if there's a
habitual or intentional,
infringements, then that's
time to talk to a lawyer.
again, those would be for
things that you'd be willing
to pay for someone's legal
fees for, lawyers, typically
don't work for free.
and they typically don't work
on contingency basis either.
So, it would need to
be something that,
has the value to you.
To enforce those rights,
through a use of a lawyer.
Now, I mean, there can
be, you certainly it
can scare people away.
That letter coming from a
lawyer can be the, kind of
an escalation before you
get to the serious legal
fees, to get people to stop
doing what they're doing.
So, again, there's no.
Single strategy, there's
no, absolutes regarding
copyright infringements.
It's going to happen by
bad actors, but it'll
also happen, just through
negligence or innocence.
that's really what we want to
just make sure that we are.
doing what we need to do
to protect our rights and
reduce the incidence of
copyright infringement and the
severity when it does happen.
So, with that, I would be
happy to take any questions.
You can pop them into the
chat and I'd also love to
hear about any experiences
that you've had with
copyright infringement
or any, techniques you've
used to prevent it.
again, I do this every
last Wednesday of the
month at noon, Eastern.
So any questions that you have
that you didn't have a chance
to ask today, please send them
to me and I will address them.
And also, I'm happy to take
suggestions for future.
LinkedIn lives or future
regular podcast episodes, and
I do encourage you to check
out the prior 2 episodes
that are parts 1 and 2 of the
copyright infringement series
and also, to get your copy of.
my expertise copyrightable,
which is a free assessment
that takes you through the
process of whether or not
something can be protected
through copyright law,
including, Things like, IA
generated content because
an essential element for
copyright ability is that
something is created by a
human, but that's just one
of many of the elements that
need to be analyzed to see
if something is eligible
for copyright protection.
You can get a copy of that
on my website, thinkbeyondip.
com.
And of course, if we aren't
connected, please do connect
with me here on LinkedIn.
Thanks.