Protect your Work.. Prevent Copyright Infringements

What is copyright and why is it important? Well a definition of copyright is “a form of legal protection that protects the work of authors, musicians, artists and designers.” Copyright is very important because it protects your work. It prevents others from copying or passing off your work as their own.

There’s often confusion when it comes to plagiarism and copyright. Some people tend to think they are similar, and aren’t even aware that there’s a difference between them. So before I get into copyright and copyright infringements, here is the definition of plagiarism. Oxford Dictionaries defines plagiarism as the practice of taking someone else’s work or ideas and passing them off as one’s own. So essentially one has to do with the ethics (plagiarism), and other involves legality (copyright).

Once your work is out there, it opens the door for anyone to claim that you “stole their idea” or to copy or manipulate your work. And if you happen to be so lucky to get slapped with a lawsuit or encounter a copyright situation, it’s important to know the law and your rights. In Canada, Bill C-11 protects your creative work under the copyright act.

There are many copyright infringement cases in writing, music, movies, plays, basically anything artistic. Some of the most popular ones: James Cameron, creator of the movie Avatar, was accused of copyright infringement for the plot of the movie. Eric Ryder filed a lawsuit against Cameron saying he had an agreement with Cameron’s production company to develop a movie based on his idea, but he was told later that they gave the project the axe.  (And this is just one of the copyright infringement cases Cameron was accused of for Avatar)

Another one is Vanilla Ice’s hit song Ice Ice Baby that was released in 1991. Ice’s song sampled David Bowie and Queen’s song Under Pressure but didn’t credit it. At first Ice denied it, and then later retracted his statement when Bowie and Queen filed a lawsuit, saying “it was a joke”. They settled the case privately, and Ice paid some money and gave credit to Bowie and Queen on the track.

 So how do you prevent copyright infringements? Be aware of what is already out there. And if you are inspired by something, take that inspiration and create something even better and make sure it’s original.