A word about copyright and copyright protection

The web is a wonderful creation and blogging software makes the publication of web content a relative breeze compared to the normal methods of creating and uploading content to sites.

But, unfortunately, there's seldom a good without an accompanying bad. What is the "bad" that I am referring to? Copyright infringement. Sadly, it happens all the time. Even sadder, it is often perpetrated by individuals who should clearly know better, namely attorneys. This evening I found yet another example of infringement, again on the part of yet another attorney's office, and this time from something I had only written hours before (Traumatic Brain Injury Social Security Disability SSI - Applying for Disability for TBI .

Copyright infringement these days is a loaded issue, mainly due to the ease of access of specific information. And it is also an issue to which significant liability may be attached. For instance, simply infringing on someone's copyrighted material may result in statutory damages of up to $30,000. However, if the infringement is shown to be "willful", statutory compensation can amount to as much as $150,000 per instance, in addition to recoverable attorney's fees.

Lately, I've learned quite a bit about copyright issues, including the fact that an infringer cannot fall back on the claim that someone else, such as an employee of a lawfirm, did the actual infringing. I quote: "Direct participation in infringing activity is not a prerequisite for liability. You can be held vicariously liable, even in the absence of actual knowledge that the infringement is taking place."

So, a word of warning to lawfirms and individual attorneys who, surprisingly, seem to know little about copyright protection and law, and the statutory damages that may follow as a result---be very careful about infringing on another site's copyright, because whether the infringement is intentional or not, you may open yourself up to liability.





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