WHAT IS COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT?

 If a copyright owner believes that one of their protected works has been infringed upon by another, this other party could potentially be liable for copyright infringement. Copyright infringement is shown by the owner proving ownership of a valid copyright in the allegedly infringed work and an actionable copying by the infringing party of the work’s original and essential elements.

Ownership of work is generally demonstrated by the presentation of a validly issued copyright certificate from the U.S. Copyright Office or some other documentation proving that the party owns the work at issue. “Copying” of a work is typically supported either by direct or indirect evidence. Since direct evidence showing proof of copying is rare, a copyright owner must instead rely on indirect evidence to proof that the infringing party had access to the allegedly infringed work and that there are “probative similarities” between the original work and the allegedly infringing work. A more extensive discussion of the copyright infringement is outside the scope of this text.

If a copyright owner’s work is found to be infringed upon, the harmed party has a variety of remedies available to them. They can obtain injunctive relief to prevent the continued infringement by the party, seizure and impoundment of the infringing items as well as recover any actual damages and lost profits suffered by the non-infringing party (17 U.S.C. §§ 501, 503). Also, if the owner has filed for registration prior to the infringement or within three months of the original publication date of the work, the author may be entitled to recover actual damages incurred, statutory damages as well as attorney’s fees. These attorney’s fees can even exceed the actual damages incurred by the copyright owner.