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Episode 67

E67: Copyright Infringement Basics, Part 3: How to Stop Competitors (and Former Clients) from Stealing Your Stuff

Exciting news! The latest episode of Hourly to Exit is here, and it's all about Copyright Infringement Basics, Part 3! Tune in to learn more about protecting and leveraging your expertise. 

In this episode, we dive into prevention measures to reduce the likelihood of becoming a victim of copyright infringement. While preventing every instance is impossible, we can implement legal, technical, and practical strategies to safeguard our intellectual property.

🔒 Key takeaways:

  • Copyright Notice:  Put the world (aka the Internet) on notice that you are claiming copyright ownership of your work. Always include a clear copyright notice. This typically looks like "© [Year of Publication] [Name of Copyright Owner]. All Rights Reserved."
  • Register Your Work: While copyright protection automatically attaches when a work is created, registering the work with the US Copyright Office provides stronger legal protection and the ability to claim statutory damages.
  • Use and understand contracts with your clients: Make sure that your contracts with clients clearly state how they can use or reuse your expertise, including creating derivatives through AI platforms.
  • Offer Legitimate Ways to Access: Sometimes people infringe because they can't easily find a legal way to access the content. Make sure you offer easily accessible, maybe even free alternatives, to use your content. Creative Commons licenses clarify permissible uses and reduce unintentional infringements.
  • Educate the Public: If you have a platform or community, educate your audience about the importance of copyright and how they can legally use and share your content. For you business coaches out there🫵🏾, offer your clients basic information about copyrights and the importance of respecting other creators’ rights.
  • Keep Records: Maintain thorough records of your work, including creation dates, drafts, emails, and any other documentation. This can be crucial if you ever need to prove ownership or defend against infringement claims.

Don't miss out on this informative episode! Tune in to Hourly to Exit on your favorite podcast platform to learn more about copyright infringement prevention and protecting your intellectual property. Remember, your expertise is valuable, and it deserves to be protected!

Connect with Erin to learn how to use intellectual property to increase your income and impact. hourlytoexit.com/podcast.

Erin's LinkedIn Page: https://www.linkedin.com/in/erinaustin/

Think Beyond IP YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVztXnDYnZ83oIb-EGX9IGA/videos

Music credit: Yes She Can by Tiny Music

A Team Dklutr production

Transcript
Erin Austin:

Hello, welcome

Erin Austin:

to this month's LinkedIn live.

Erin Austin:

If you are new here, I do

Erin Austin:

these every, last Wednesday

Erin Austin:

of the month at noon

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Eastern, or I talk about

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topics of interest for B2B

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experts in protecting and

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leveraging our expertise.

Erin Austin:

So I have been doing a series,

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and this is the 3rd, the

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last of series of 3, this

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is the 3rd installment of

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it where I'm talking about

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copyright infringement.

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Now, this is being recorded

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for my podcast hourly to exit.

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This will be episode 67 and

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so if you haven't listened to

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the last couple of episodes,

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episode 65 was the 1st of the

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series where I talked about.

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What exactly constitutes

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copyright infringement?

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Believe it or not,

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copying someone's work

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doesn't always involve

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copyright infringement.

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and sometimes things that

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you didn't think would be

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copyright infringement are.

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And so go back and

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listen to that one.

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If you haven't heard

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it, I also talk about

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what the penalties are,

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what the remedies are.

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which includes civil remedies

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as well as criminal penalties.

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Yes, there are circumstances

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where copyright infringement

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is a crime and can even

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result in imprisonment.

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And then episode 66 was part

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2 where I talked about how

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to not accidentally infringe

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someone else's copyright.

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Because some things that

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we think are innocent,

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but are actually copyright

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infringements are still

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infringements, and

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there's this thing called

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statutory damages that

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are available even for

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innocent infringements.

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And so we want to make sure

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that we are, respecting

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each other's rights.

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I like to call it, you do

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on to others as you'd have

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them do on to you with

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respect to your intellectual

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property and your expertise.

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And so we want to be

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respectful of everyone's.

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Intellectual property rights.

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these are episode 66.

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We talk about how to

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make sure we aren't

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through our negligence

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or through our ignorance,

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infringing other people's

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intellectual property rights.

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So, today in part 3,

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we're going to talk about

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prevention measures.

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And how to make sure that

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we don't become a victim of

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copyright infringement now

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with that, I will say that,

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it's virtually impossible

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to prevent, copyright

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infringement, there are

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just the bad actors, right?

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We know that there are

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certain places that are

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known for, their piracy

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and we could spend a lot

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of time, a lot of energy,

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without much return trying

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to prevent every instance of

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copyright infringement and

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I don't want you to do that.

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I don't want you to become

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obsessed with that, but

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there are a combination

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of legal, technical, and

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some practical strategies

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that we can use to reduce

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the likelihood that your

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copyright will be infringed.

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And if it is infringed,

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that you'll be able to

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access 1 of the remedies.

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So, 1st, the simplest, we

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should all do it, which

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is the copyright notice.

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I can never tell if

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you can see the bottom

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of my slides or not.

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I do have a copyright

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notice on my slides.

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I have them on all of

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my slides and it is very

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simply the C in a circle.

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The year, and that would

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be the year of publication.

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So, let's say you,

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started writing your

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novel 5 years ago.

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You're finally

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ready to publish it.

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that year would be the year

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publication and your name.

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should say the

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copyright owner's name.

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for instance.

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In my slides, it has Aaron

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Austin Law PLLC because

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that is my employer.

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And as my employer, it

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owns the copyright and all

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the things that I create.

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And so that would be the

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name of the copyright owner.

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and the all rights reserved.

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I don't know.

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Sometimes I use that.

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Sometimes I don't.

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but basically, it's not

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because it's required because

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your copyright will attach.

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Regardless of the copyright

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notice it attaches at the

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moment of creation, but

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this is the way you put

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it's literally the notice.

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It puts the world on notice

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and we're most concerned.

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I mean, again, the

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bad actors, good luck.

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You're not going to stop them.

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Right?

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But from Pete from the

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innocent infringers or

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the negligent or lazy

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infringer, that puts them

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on notice that, something's

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up on the Internet.

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It actually isn't just there

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for your free use, someone

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claims copyright ownership

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in it, and that is what your

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first line of defense, or

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first line of offense, is

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letting people know that

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you are the copyright owner,

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and no, you just can't use

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this without my permission.

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And then the next line would

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be registering your work.

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Yes, you know, again,

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the copyright protection

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automatically attaches

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when it's created, but you

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do need to be registered.

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That work needs to be

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registered with the U.

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S.

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Copyright Office in order

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to enforce your rights

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against an actual infringer.

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So if we go back to episodes

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65, where I talk about the

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remedies and the penalties.

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work does need to be

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registered in the US

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Copyright Office in order

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to access those remedies,

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and those penalties and

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not a super complicated

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process, but it does have,

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little bit of cost to it.

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There is an

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application process.

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and so I don't recommend it

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for everything you create.

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If you're anything like

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me, you're creating

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content all day, every day.

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But I do recommend it for

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those, parts of your work

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that you would go, I want

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to sue them for taking

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that, whatever that is.

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Like they, took my book,

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they took my course they

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copied my whole website.

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You these are the things

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that you would hire

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a lawyer to enforce.

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Those are the things

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that you want to have

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registered and you need

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to understand and use.

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Contracts, we're going to talk

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about licenses a little bit

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more later on, but what some

Erin Austin:

people don't understand is

Erin Austin:

that your client agreements.

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Include a license to use

Erin Austin:

your work and so you need

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to make sure that the

Erin Austin:

parameters are clearly stated

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in that contract agreement

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about how your client can

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use or reuse your work.

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And so, when you have that

Erin Austin:

clearly stated in your

Erin Austin:

agreement, then you can access

Erin Austin:

those remedies if they use it

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in a way that's not permitted

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under your client agreement.

Erin Austin:

Talk about this a lot in other

Erin Austin:

trainings, because it is so

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important in the work that

Erin Austin:

we do when we are experts

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with corporate clients.

Erin Austin:

We are entering these

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agreements all the time.

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The client friendly

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language that you may

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be presented with.

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You do need to look at it,

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understand it and make sure

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you are limiting client's

Erin Austin:

ability to reuse materials.

Erin Austin:

Watermarking.

Erin Austin:

So now we're going to get into

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some technical, ways to, the

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first three would be legal.

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these would be some

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technical ways you can

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help deter infringement.

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So watermarking.

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Now, I will say that if anyone

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out there has experience with

Erin Austin:

some of these techniques,

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Technical measures, because

Erin Austin:

I personally do not.

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I'd love to have you

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share them with everyone.

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So we can kind of think

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about how we might be able

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to use them in our businesses

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as well as the cost.

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I have not kind of put

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some cost to these either,

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but watermarking is way

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that you can put something

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that's either visual.

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Let's say it's a

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photograph that is in

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there that says, that.

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Someone else owns it, or

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just couldn't even say

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watermark so that someone

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just can't take it and

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stick it on their website.

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they would have to

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literally kind of.

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I'm going to go through

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the effort of removing this

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watermark so I can use it.

Erin Austin:

That will keep something

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from just very casually

Erin Austin:

taking your work and they're

Erin Austin:

also invisible watermarks

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that can be detected, only

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through use of some other

Erin Austin:

technology that would read

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where the source of something

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is, with someone has.

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A copy of something that

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they are permitted to

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have it, but they're not

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supposed to make copies

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of it and distribute it.

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You can have that

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watermark in there.

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So if it shows up somewhere,

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like, that come from that?

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You can go in and

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decipher that watermark

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and it will tell you.

Erin Austin:

Who created those copies?

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And so that is another way

Erin Austin:

to prevent distribution

Erin Austin:

without your permission.

Erin Austin:

Digital rights

Erin Austin:

management or DMR.

Erin Austin:

That's a kind of

Erin Austin:

software as well.

Erin Austin:

Of course, not free, but

Erin Austin:

it is embedded in digital

Erin Austin:

content to make sure that you

Erin Austin:

control how it is distributed.

Erin Austin:

So it can prevent it from

Erin Austin:

being, further distributed.

Erin Austin:

Like, if you get something

Erin Austin:

on Kindle or audible, it'll

Erin Austin:

prevent you from just kind

Erin Austin:

of sharing it with everybody.

Erin Austin:

when you get a new laptop or

Erin Austin:

desktop, and it has software,

Erin Austin:

like, there's a version of it

Erin Austin:

in there, but you have to have

Erin Austin:

a key in order to unlock it.

Erin Austin:

That is a version of D.

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R.

Erin Austin:

M.

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I read this, although I

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wasn't aware of this, and

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hopefully you can confirm

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this that apple iTunes use D.

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R.

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M.

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to limit the number of devices

Erin Austin:

you can use, the music with

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and wasn't aware of that.

Erin Austin:

but those are ways that we

Erin Austin:

can prevent it from being, uh,

Erin Austin:

distributed outside of the U.

Erin Austin:

S.

Erin Austin:

So, if you want to make

Erin Austin:

sure that your materials

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don't leave the U.

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S.

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you can use as well.

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that is a little bit

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of a heavier, lift.

Erin Austin:

so that would be for something

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that, obviously is very

Erin Austin:

valuable to you that you

Erin Austin:

really want to control.

Erin Austin:

Online monitoring tools

Erin Austin:

is another 1 that, very

Erin Austin:

effective, but expensive.

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so, for instance, if you

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have, or you've probably

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heard of someone receiving

Erin Austin:

that cease and desist letter,

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we'll talk about cease and

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desist letters in a minute.

Erin Austin:

So.

Erin Austin:

from Getty images saying,

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hey, I noticed that you

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have 1 of our images on your

Erin Austin:

website and they send you

Erin Austin:

a license agreement for it.

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Well, they're using

Erin Austin:

online monitoring.

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So they have a way of

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something to troll the

Erin Austin:

Internet and to pick up any

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use of 1 or their images.

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I imagine they have their

Erin Austin:

own bespoke software

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to do that, but you can

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also, subscribe, for that.

Erin Austin:

Um, and so you can find,

Erin Austin:

any other use of your

Erin Austin:

materials on the internet.

Erin Austin:

one of the suggested ways

Erin Austin:

of using this, which is I

Erin Austin:

think is kind of interesting,

Erin Austin:

which is basically the

Erin Austin:

Getty Images model.

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Is that you find people who

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are using your materials and

Erin Austin:

you use it as an opportunity

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to get a license from them

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to continue to use it.

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if you rather that they

Erin Austin:

continue to use it and get

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paid for it, rather than

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have them take it down.

Erin Austin:

and so maybe you'll

Erin Austin:

even find that there is.

Erin Austin:

Some part of your content that

Erin Austin:

is frequently used, and maybe

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that would be something that

Erin Austin:

you would want to create some

Erin Austin:

sort of licensable content

Erin Austin:

out of that, because you

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know that there's actually

Erin Austin:

a demand out there for it

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and some practical things,

Erin Austin:

offering a legitimate way to

Erin Austin:

access your materials kind of

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back to the last point, there

Erin Austin:

may be things that people

Erin Austin:

want to use, but it's just.

Erin Austin:

Kind of a lot of work to

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figure out how to do it.

Erin Austin:

How do I get a license?

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Who owns it?

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What do I have to do?

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and just from that alone, it

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creates enough friction that

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they just kind of take it

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and hope nobody notices, I

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think this probably happens

Erin Austin:

a fair amount in connection

Erin Austin:

with, presentations where

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people will go, you know,

Erin Austin:

I want to refer to this

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graphic or this book or this.

Erin Austin:

Thing, and do I need

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to get a license?

Erin Austin:

Can I have

Erin Austin:

permission to use it?

Erin Austin:

Well, I don't have the

Erin Austin:

time or the resources

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to figure it out.

Erin Austin:

So I'm just going to use it

Erin Austin:

and hope nobody notices and

Erin Austin:

probably nobody does notice,

Erin Austin:

but we do want to make sure

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that we are complying with

Erin Austin:

the law because of somebody.

Erin Austin:

Does notice it is in fact,

Erin Austin:

copyright infringement,

Erin Austin:

and there are statutory

Erin Austin:

damages attached to

Erin Austin:

those infringements.

Erin Austin:

And so I like to encourage

Erin Austin:

people, if there's

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something that there's

Erin Austin:

an easy way to give them

Erin Austin:

access to it, then do it.

Erin Austin:

I mean, for me, it

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is on my to do list.

Erin Austin:

I don't know even what number

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it is on my to do list, but

Erin Austin:

is to get creative commons

Erin Austin:

license, which I talk about.

Erin Austin:

Thank you.

Erin Austin:

A lot in the prior episodes,

Erin Austin:

those are standard licenses

Erin Austin:

that have predetermined,

Erin Austin:

terms for how someone can use

Erin Austin:

your copyrighted material.

Erin Austin:

And so you can have a creative

Erin Austin:

common license that says, hey,

Erin Austin:

you know, you can use this.

Erin Austin:

For commercial purposes,

Erin Austin:

but you have to give me

Erin Austin:

attribution, or you can only

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use it for non commercial

Erin Austin:

purposes, or, you can use it.

Erin Austin:

So long as you don't

Erin Austin:

change anything.

Erin Austin:

And so that gives

Erin Austin:

a very easy way.

Erin Austin:

People can see right on There

Erin Austin:

are symbols that tell you

Erin Austin:

how you can use this work,

Erin Austin:

and be in compliance with.

Erin Austin:

The copyright license

Erin Austin:

to use that work.

Erin Austin:

And for me, I have a ton of

Erin Austin:

free content and I am happy

Erin Austin:

for people to spread the word.

Erin Austin:

I want everyone to

Erin Austin:

spread the word that is

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everywhere and that, know,

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we can create scalable

Erin Austin:

and saleable businesses.

Erin Austin:

I want the more of the

Erin Austin:

people talk about it,

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the better it is and in

Erin Austin:

achieving, my mission to

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make sure we help more

Erin Austin:

wealth in the hands of women.

Erin Austin:

And so I'd be happy to

Erin Austin:

have people use my free

Erin Austin:

content, but I would like.

Erin Austin:

To get credit for it.

Erin Austin:

So I like from the use

Erin Austin:

it with attribution.

Erin Austin:

I would not like someone

Erin Austin:

to take my free content

Erin Austin:

and package it and sell it.

Erin Austin:

So I would like them to

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use it, but use it in a

Erin Austin:

way that there it's also

Erin Austin:

free non commercial use.

Erin Austin:

So, when we make it easy

Erin Austin:

for people to license our

Erin Austin:

materials, then they're

Erin Austin:

more likely to, comply

Erin Austin:

with those licenses and

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not get sneaky about it.

Erin Austin:

So, I do like that.

Erin Austin:

and the other ways is just

Erin Austin:

to have it on a platform that

Erin Austin:

can do that for you, such as

Erin Austin:

if you are a photographer, or

Erin Austin:

you have a course, when you

Erin Austin:

put them on a platform where

Erin Austin:

people can just automatically

Erin Austin:

access it, it will have the

Erin Austin:

terms of how you can use

Erin Austin:

that material right there.

Erin Austin:

They don't have to

Erin Austin:

negotiate anything.

Erin Austin:

They can see right there.

Erin Austin:

They don't have to.

Erin Austin:

Have a nervous conversation

Erin Austin:

that can just get access to

Erin Austin:

it and use it within, the

Erin Austin:

bounds of that license and

Erin Austin:

then educating the public.

Erin Austin:

It's important that we

Erin Austin:

have these conversations.

Erin Austin:

It's important that if you

Erin Austin:

have a community, especially

Erin Austin:

for those of you who are

Erin Austin:

business coaches for us to

Erin Austin:

talk about how important it

Erin Austin:

is for us to respect each

Erin Austin:

other's intellectual property.

Erin Austin:

And, I know.

Erin Austin:

Business coaches that you

Erin Austin:

get questions from your

Erin Austin:

clients about, Can I use

Erin Austin:

this book in my course?

Erin Austin:

how do I prevent my, client

Erin Austin:

from your use my materials?

Erin Austin:

can I use this thing

Erin Austin:

off of the Internet?

Erin Austin:

And these are things that we.

Erin Austin:

Can educate ourselves

Erin Austin:

about through things like

Erin Austin:

this to make sure we kind

Erin Austin:

of understand the basics.

Erin Austin:

No, 1's trying to, make you

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an IP lawyer, but just to

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understand the basics of what

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good intellectual property

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hygiene is, maybe put it

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that way to talk to our

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communities about it as well

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and keeping records, I wish

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I had an example, maybe I

Erin Austin:

will try to have an example.

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The next time I talk about

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this is that, if you don't

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register something, like, I'm

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not going to register this,

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presentation, when somebody

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steals it, like, it's good to

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have a record to show that.

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You were the originator

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of that material.

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You don't want someone to

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steal your material, register

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in the copyright office,

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and then say, hey, she's

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infringing on my rights.

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You want to make sure that

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you're able to show when

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something was created,

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who created it and,

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have that documentation.

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Let's say you hired

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a contractor to

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create something.

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So you hired someone to.

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create your logo and you

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think it's original and

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you're using it, but then

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they use that same logo

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with somebody else thinking

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you're never going to notice.

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And then you have a conflict,

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making sure that you have

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documentation to show that you

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own something is important.

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So it's important to keep

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records, as well, and then

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limit distribution, back kind

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of to the DMR, being about

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where you put things, you

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there's some places where you

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have a more sophisticated.

Erin Austin:

Audience that's unlikely

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to steal your materials,

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things that you publish

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on linkedin, the things

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you publish on medium,

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things that you publish.

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Well, I don't know about

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YouTube, but, that people kind

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of understand that they can't

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steal it may be some other

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places, where if you publish

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things that it may be more

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of a free for all atmosphere.

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And it's even possible that

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it says somewhere in the

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terms and conditions that

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anything that you publish

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here, you give a license

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to that platform or to that

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website to use it as it will.

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It says that in terms of

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conditions that by publishing

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something there, you're

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granting them a license.

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So you need to be aware of

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where you're publishing things

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and what the terms of that.

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And then actively

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enforce your rights.

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So to that cease and desist

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letter, if you find someone

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has stolen your materials

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and they're using it in

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a way that you think is

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a copyright infringement,

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then you should send a

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cease and desist letter.

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it is something that,

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obviously has more gravity

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if it comes from a lawyer,

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but it doesn't have to.

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there are.

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examples of cease and desist

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letters on the Internet.

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It is on my to do list to

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have a sample for you to use.

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I will, Do that and let

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you know when I have one of

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those available for free, to

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send to the infringer saying,

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hey, I saw that you have

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republished my website as your

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own and it demands that they

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cease and desist distribution

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of your materials.

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And, of course, you reserve

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your rights in case you need

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to take it to the next step.

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Another way is through

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a takedown notice.

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And that is something that

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you send to the ISP, like,

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so let's say you see, you're

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on YouTube and you see that

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somebody has uploaded a video

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of yours and so you would send

Erin Austin:

a takedown notice to YouTube

Erin Austin:

and,, they're very clear, like

Erin Austin:

the statute says exactly what.

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The takedown notice needs

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to say, and you follow, and

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the ISP should also have

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that in their terms of use.

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They should also have

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what you need to do them

Erin Austin:

a takedown notice, who you

Erin Austin:

send it to, and then the ISP

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is obligated to take to act

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on that if they don't want

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to be, accused of covering

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infringement themselves.

Erin Austin:

And then, if these, kind

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of less formal, techniques

Erin Austin:

don't work, you've sent your

Erin Austin:

cease and desist, you've

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sent your takedown notice,

Erin Austin:

someone still continues to

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infringe, or if there's a

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habitual or intentional,

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infringements, then that's

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time to talk to a lawyer.

Erin Austin:

again, those would be for

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things that you'd be willing

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to pay for someone's legal

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fees for, lawyers, typically

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don't work for free.

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and they typically don't work

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on contingency basis either.

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So, it would need to

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be something that,

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has the value to you.

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To enforce those rights,

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through a use of a lawyer.

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Now, I mean, there can

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be, you certainly it

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can scare people away.

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That letter coming from a

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lawyer can be the, kind of

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an escalation before you

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get to the serious legal

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fees, to get people to stop

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doing what they're doing.

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So, again, there's no.

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Single strategy, there's

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no, absolutes regarding

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copyright infringements.

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It's going to happen by

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bad actors, but it'll

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also happen, just through

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negligence or innocence.

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that's really what we want to

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just make sure that we are.

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doing what we need to do

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to protect our rights and

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reduce the incidence of

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copyright infringement and the

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severity when it does happen.

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So, with that, I would be

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happy to take any questions.

Erin Austin:

You can pop them into the

Erin Austin:

chat and I'd also love to

Erin Austin:

hear about any experiences

Erin Austin:

that you've had with

Erin Austin:

copyright infringement

Erin Austin:

or any, techniques you've

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used to prevent it.

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again, I do this every

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last Wednesday of the

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month at noon, Eastern.

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So any questions that you have

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that you didn't have a chance

Erin Austin:

to ask today, please send them

Erin Austin:

to me and I will address them.

Erin Austin:

And also, I'm happy to take

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suggestions for future.

Erin Austin:

LinkedIn lives or future

Erin Austin:

regular podcast episodes, and

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I do encourage you to check

Erin Austin:

out the prior 2 episodes

Erin Austin:

that are parts 1 and 2 of the

Erin Austin:

copyright infringement series

Erin Austin:

and also, to get your copy of.

Erin Austin:

my expertise copyrightable,

Erin Austin:

which is a free assessment

Erin Austin:

that takes you through the

Erin Austin:

process of whether or not

Erin Austin:

something can be protected

Erin Austin:

through copyright law,

Erin Austin:

including, Things like, IA

Erin Austin:

generated content because

Erin Austin:

an essential element for

Erin Austin:

copyright ability is that

Erin Austin:

something is created by a

Erin Austin:

human, but that's just one

Erin Austin:

of many of the elements that

Erin Austin:

need to be analyzed to see

Erin Austin:

if something is eligible

Erin Austin:

for copyright protection.

Erin Austin:

You can get a copy of that

Erin Austin:

on my website, thinkbeyondip.

Erin Austin:

com.

Erin Austin:

And of course, if we aren't

Erin Austin:

connected, please do connect

Erin Austin:

with me here on LinkedIn.

Erin Austin:

Thanks.

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Erin Austin

Meet Erin Austin, a Harvard Law alum with over 25 years of copyright and contracts experience. As the go-to advisor for professionals with corporate clients, Erin empowers entrepreneurs to be their own advocates, standing out for her commitment to transforming expertise into empires through the creation, protection and leveraging of intellectual property assets. Explore her blend of legal expertise and entrepreneurial insight on ThinkBeyondIP.com and the "Hourly to Exit" podcast. Off the clock, you'll find Erin in the great outdoors or connecting with business coaches to elevate 6-figure consultants into 7-figure powerhouses.