Smit & Van Wyk Attorneys » copyright infringement

Guidance from South Africa copyright attorneys

Daleen — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 08:41:19 +0000

Never think that if a book is in a library and you use the library copier to copy part of the book, that you have not committed copyright infringement. A few guidelines regarding copying are shared by South Africa copyright attorneys to help you avoid copyright infringement. Libraries and archives can only duplicate published work for reference purposes. The works cannot be put on the reserve shelves for patrons or students as the law states that work can only be copied for private use. Libraries have the right to do so for reference purposes and not to distribute information. Even part of a book copied and distributed will constitute copyright infringement. If you need help in preventing copyright infringement at your company or educational institution contact the Smit & Van Wyk South Africa copyright attorneys.

Copyright Lawyers | Intellectual Property Law

admin — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:12:05 +0000

Copyright lawyers are the lawyers who will assist you if you have any issues whatsoever regarding copyright of any of your works of the mind. Copyright is intellectual property and may be transferred, sold, licensed or lent to another person or entity in much the same way as any other property. However, in order that your rights are protected in the correct way, copyright lawyers should be used to draw up the appropriate agreements. Copyright is a specialized area of intellectual property law and should there be any confusion you should consult with and take the advice of copyright lawyers.

Copyright Attorney

admin — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:07:52 +0000

A copyright attorney is an attorney who will assist you in any issues that arise from copyright infringements and who can help you to set up agreements or contracts with publishers or others who may wish to use your copyrighted work. If, for example, you own the copyright to a novel and a film company or individual wishes to purchase the film rights, or if you have written a piece of music that a recording company wishes to use, a copyright attorney is the individual to approach. If you have any issues or queries regarding copyright the one of our copyright attorneys will be happy to assist you.

Copyright Attorneys | Copyright Protection

admin — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 09:06:55 +0000

If you are the owner of a copyright, copyright attorneys can assist you in copyright and publisher agreements and can handle both the setting of contracts and help with high level litigation cases where copyright infringement has taken place. If you have copyright issues that need to be referred to the high courts of the country through the use of advocates, then our copyright attorneys can assist in your case. Protection of your copyright rights should be embedded in any agreements with publishers, music houses and so on. Let our copyright attorneys assist in setting up the agreements in order to protect your rights.

Copyright of duplication

Mike — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 14:19:57 +0000

Copyright law recognizes the right of an author based on whether the work actually is an original creation, rather than based on whether it is unique; two authors may own copyright on two substantially identical works, if it is determined that the duplication was coincidental, and neither was copied from the other.

Music piracy is an international problem – and it is growing

Isebell — Tue, 26 May 2009 13:13:21 +0000

Music piracy is now more prevalent than ever and with the ease of downloading MP3 and other file formats from pirate websites, millions of consumers are becoming involved and thus guilty of music piracy. It is killing the music industry as artists do not get their royalties due even though their music is listened to by thousands. A music store in Australia was recently investigated by police and the owner has been found guilty of 15 copyright offences including the sale of pirated works. Australia has taken a harsh stand on music piracy and copyright infringement with penalties of up to five years imprisonment and $60 000 fines for individuals. In South Africa the problem is even worse with pirated movies and music being sold on the streets by vendors. As long as there is support the crime will continue. If you suspect music piracy or copyright infringements of your work you should contact Intellectual Property lawyers right away.

Difference between plagiarism and copyright infringement

Isebell — Tue, 26 May 2009 12:59:46 +0000

Many people mistakenly believe that plagiarism and copyright infringement are the same. Plagiarism means kidnapping and thus refers to the use of someone else’s words or work as one’s one. Copyright infringement is selling another’s work or commercially exploiting it without the proper rights to do so. Copyright infringement for example, will occur when a university copies parts of the whole book and then selling it to students. Theft thus takes place. Plagiarism is a situation where the original work is manipulated and credit is not given where due or it can be done with the specific purpose of deceiving the reader to think that the ideas are your own. There are not that many original ideas and writers normally build upon the works of others, but if a work is for instance, translated from one language to another and then sold as original it is pure plagiarism. The penalties in both cases are extreme.

Copyright infringement – what copying can be done?

Isebell — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 17:39:13 +0000

The copying that can be done without permission without becoming guilty of copyright infringement is really limited. Although you can make a single copy of a large part of a book or work, it is important to note that the copying must not be in conflict of normal exploitation of such a literary piece. If you work in an archive and a person requests a single copy of a document and you are sure that it will be used for more than personal usage, you will be guilty of copyright infringement if you still go ahead with making the copy for the user. An archive or library can only make one copy of a specific article in a periodical for a single user. If the user requests five copies of the same article, the archive must not give in to the request as the archive will then be guilty of copyright infringement.