All About Copyrights

Issues on copyrights have always been hot topics in the creative world. From movies, to music, and most especially among authors, people have been disputing over the different rights and protections that the legal concept of a copyright has imposed in the world market.

If you are an aspiring writer, then familiarizing yourself with this legal concept can surely benefit and protect you in order to avoid facing cases regarding creative liberties in the future. Aside from this, claiming copyright for your originally created materials can benefit you in so many ways, not only as an artist but also as a laborer.

What Is Copyright?

A copyright is a legal concept, afforded by most government laws, that gives a creator exclusive rights of his or her own work, such as ownership and distribution, making derivatives of the work, public performance and public display. It also gives the creator, or whoever holds the copyright, the privilege to be credited and to be known as his or her own work.

The protection of a copyright also watches over the holders financial security when their source of income is basically the copyrighted creations. Because it is a form of intellectual property, a copyrighted item cannot be directly imitated or claimed from the holder without proper negotiations.

In copyright laws, the author generally becomes the copyright owner, unless he or she sells or transfers the rights. Also, in some cases the copyright may belong to the employer of the person who created the work, especially when the particular piece was made for hire.

Some examples of copyrightable work may include literature, music, films and a many forms of art. All of these things as you can see are usually original and results of significant labor, creativity and even financial investment. And so, protecting them from incorrect exploitation from other people is justifiable.

How Can I Violate Copyright Laws?

For many writers, using the work of others to gain ideas and inspiration is quite common. However, when one copies an original piece and distributes it as his own, then this can be a totally different issue. This act of copying, displaying, distributing or creating a plagiaristic version of a copyrighted piece is called copyright infringement.

Copyright infringement can be serious especially if a copyright holder would sue for the violations that have been afflicted. And penalties for this crime can possibly include a fine of around $100,000 in the U.S. However; certain exceptions can be placed on copyright infringement, especially if the product was used for educational purposes.

How Can I Make The Copyright Law Work For My Advantage?

The copyright law, however, centrally does not exist to simply condemn those who plagiarize. In fact, it exists primarily to protect those with creative capabilities in order to encourage people to produce more advancement in society, culture and of course, the arts.

First of all, owning a copyright allows you to earn more from your creation. Among authors, this can protect your right to distribute your own book without having to worry that fake and cheaper copies of your work will circulate in the market, because if this happens, you would obviously lose a lot of money.

Owning a copyright also looks after the dignity of your work in such a way that it prevents other people form being able to exploit it without your consent. Through this, you would be able to have control where your work can and cannot be used. After all, if you worked hard for your piece, then it would be a shame if people just copied it, claimed it was theirs, or used it without properly asking for your permission, and even perhaps using it in ways with which you do not approve.

Remember that copyrighted works are usually the result of creativity, originality, hard work and financial investment, and without protection, people may find it easy to exploit the material without paying the due amount to the creator.

For someone working to create original creations, it is only ethical that you would not only stand up for the copyright of your own pieces, but strive to preserve the rights of other artists as well. After all, copyrights not only benefit you and others for the mere fact that it can help you earn more, but more importantly, it provides a means of preserving the dignity of your art. And with this, everyone should surely respect and follow copyright laws.