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Protecting non-U.S. Works Using U.S. Copyright Law
Posted by
John E Grant
on February 18, 2010
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You don’t have to be a resident of the United States to take advantage of the many benefits of U.S. copyright laws. These laws offer some of the strongest protections of any country and non-U.S. copyright holders—including media and software companies, writers, bloggers, artists, photographers, designers, and any other creative professionals—can use legal enforcement methods available here even without registering your work in this country.
Provisions such as Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) takedown procedures and strict penalties for tampering with copyright notices allow copyright holders to target infringers in ways that just aren’t available in other countries. Moreover, many of these tools focus on the companies that make the Internet run, therefore making them your allies in the fight against infringement.
Because major companies such as Google, PayPal, eBay, and Yahoo are based in the U.S., they must comply with U.S. law. This means that copyright holders worldwide can use U.S. law to shut off an infringer’s web hosting, payment processing, advertising servers, and other essential services. Not only can this prevent the infringer from making money off of your work, it can provide a strong incentive to pay you a settlement in order to get these systems restored.
Of course, if you plan to distribute your work in the U.S., it is also a good idea to register for a U.S. copyright certificate. This registration will provide you with even stronger enforcement tools to use against infringers and counterfeiters, including enlisting the U.S. Customs Agency to assist in detecting pirated copies of your work.
To learn more about how to put U.S. Copyright law to work for you, contact Imua Legal Advisors for a consultation.
Tags:
Copyright,
International Copyright,
Copyright Infringement,
Copyright Office,
Copyright Registration,
DMCA