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.

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If you are new here, I do

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these every, last Wednesday

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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.

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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

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people don't understand is

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that your client agreements.

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Include a license to use

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your work and so you need

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to make sure that the

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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

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clearly stated in your

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agreement, then you can access

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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.

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Talk about this a lot in other

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trainings, because it is so

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important in the work that

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we do when we are experts

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with corporate clients.

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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

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ability to reuse materials.

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Watermarking.

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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

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some of these techniques,

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Technical measures, because

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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.

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That will keep something

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from just very casually

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taking your work and they're

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also invisible watermarks

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that can be detected, only

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through use of some other

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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.

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Who created those copies?

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And so that is another way

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to prevent distribution

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without your permission.

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Digital rights

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management or DMR.

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That's a kind of

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software as well.

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Of course, not free, but

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it is embedded in digital

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content to make sure that you

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control how it is distributed.

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So it can prevent it from

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being, further distributed.

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Like, if you get something

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on Kindle or audible, it'll

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prevent you from just kind

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of sharing it with everybody.

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when you get a new laptop or

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desktop, and it has software,

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like, there's a version of it

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in there, but you have to have

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a key in order to unlock it.

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That is a version of D.

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R.

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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

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you can use, the music with

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and wasn't aware of that.

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but those are ways that we

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can prevent it from being, uh,

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distributed outside of the U.

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S.

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So, if you want to make

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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.

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so that would be for something

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that, obviously is very

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valuable to you that you

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really want to control.

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Online monitoring tools

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is another 1 that, very

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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

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that cease and desist letter,

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we'll talk about cease and

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desist letters in a minute.

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So.

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from Getty images saying,

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hey, I noticed that you

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have 1 of our images on your

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website and they send you

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a license agreement for it.

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Well, they're using

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online monitoring.

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So they have a way of

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something to troll the

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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

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own bespoke software

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to do that, but you can

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also, subscribe, for that.

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Um, and so you can find,

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any other use of your

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materials on the internet.

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one of the suggested ways

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of using this, which is I

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think is kind of interesting,

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which is basically the

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Getty Images model.

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Is that you find people who

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are using your materials and

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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

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continue to use it and get

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paid for it, rather than

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have them take it down.

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and so maybe you'll

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even find that there is.

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Some part of your content that

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is frequently used, and maybe

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that would be something that

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you would want to create some

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sort of licensable content

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out of that, because you

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know that there's actually

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a demand out there for it

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and some practical things,

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offering a legitimate way to

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access your materials kind of

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back to the last point, there

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may be things that people

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want to use, but it's just.

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Kind of a lot of work to

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figure out how to do it.

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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

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a fair amount in connection

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with, presentations where

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people will go, you know,

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I want to refer to this

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graphic or this book or this.

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Thing, and do I need

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to get a license?

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Can I have

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permission to use it?

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Well, I don't have the

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time or the resources

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to figure it out.

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So I'm just going to use it

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and hope nobody notices and

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probably nobody does notice,

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but we do want to make sure

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that we are complying with

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the law because of somebody.

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Does notice it is in fact,

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copyright infringement,

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and there are statutory

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damages attached to

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those infringements.

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And so I like to encourage

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people, if there's

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something that there's

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an easy way to give them

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access to it, then do it.

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I mean, for me, it

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is on my to do list.

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I don't know even what number

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it is on my to do list, but

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is to get creative commons

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license, which I talk about.

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Thank you.

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A lot in the prior episodes,

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those are standard licenses

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that have predetermined,

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terms for how someone can use

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your copyrighted material.

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And so you can have a creative

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common license that says, hey,

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you know, you can use this.

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For commercial purposes,

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but you have to give me

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attribution, or you can only

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use it for non commercial

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purposes, or, you can use it.

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So long as you don't

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change anything.

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And so that gives

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a very easy way.

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People can see right on There

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are symbols that tell you

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how you can use this work,

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and be in compliance with.

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The copyright license

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to use that work.

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And for me, I have a ton of

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free content and I am happy

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for people to spread the word.

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I want everyone to

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spread the word that is

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everywhere and that, know,

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we can create scalable

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and saleable businesses.

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I want the more of the

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people talk about it,

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the better it is and in

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achieving, my mission to

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make sure we help more

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wealth in the hands of women.

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And so I'd be happy to

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have people use my free

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content, but I would like.

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To get credit for it.

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So I like from the use

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it with attribution.

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I would not like someone

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to take my free content

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and package it and sell it.

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So I would like them to

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use it, but use it in a

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way that there it's also

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free non commercial use.

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So, when we make it easy

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for people to license our

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materials, then they're

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more likely to, comply

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with those licenses and

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not get sneaky about it.

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So, I do like that.

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and the other ways is just

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to have it on a platform that

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can do that for you, such as

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if you are a photographer, or

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you have a course, when you

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put them on a platform where

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people can just automatically

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access it, it will have the

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terms of how you can use

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that material right there.

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They don't have to

Erin Austin:

negotiate anything.

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They can see right there.

Erin Austin:

They don't have to.

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Have a nervous conversation

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that can just get access to

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it and use it within, the

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bounds of that license and

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then educating the public.

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It's important that we

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have these conversations.

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It's important that if you

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have a community, especially

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for those of you who are

Erin Austin:

business coaches for us to

Erin Austin:

talk about how important it

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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

Erin Austin:

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

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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.

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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

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a takedown notice to YouTube

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and,, they're very clear, like

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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

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a takedown notice, who you

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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.

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And then, if these, kind

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of less formal, techniques

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don't work, you've sent your

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cease and desist, you've

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sent your takedown notice,

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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.

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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.

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You can pop them into the

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chat and I'd also love to

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hear about any experiences

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that you've had with

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copyright infringement

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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

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to ask today, please send them

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to me and I will address them.

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And also, I'm happy to take

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suggestions for future.

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LinkedIn lives or future

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regular podcast episodes, and

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I do encourage you to check

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out the prior 2 episodes

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that are parts 1 and 2 of the

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copyright infringement series

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and also, to get your copy of.

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my expertise copyrightable,

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which is a free assessment

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that takes you through the

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process of whether or not

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something can be protected

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through copyright law,

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including, Things like, IA

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generated content because

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an essential element for

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copyright ability is that

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something is created by a

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human, but that's just one

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of many of the elements that

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need to be analyzed to see

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if something is eligible

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for copyright protection.

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You can get a copy of that

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on my website, thinkbeyondip.

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com.

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And of course, if we aren't

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connected, please do connect

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with me here on LinkedIn.

Erin Austin:

Thanks.

About the Podcast

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Hourly to Exit

About your host

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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.