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Proper Copyright Notice bars an “innocent infringer” defense
I've long advised clients about the importance of including proper notice on their works. As a practical matter, you should do everything in your power to make it easy for someone to get in touch with you for permission (and payment) to use your copyrighted material. As a matter of law, however, proper notice—especially when you also embed it in your metadata—gives you some important legal tools. Yesterday the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion that elaborates on one of those tools: the ability to foreclose "innocent infringement" claims by unauthorized users of your work.
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The Magic of Metadata in Copyright Law
I've long advised my clients that one of the smartest things they can do to protect their work, after registering it with the U.S. Copyright Office, is to embed Copyright Management Information—especially proper copyright notice—into the metadata of any digital files of the work.
Metadata is an incredibly powerful tool for copyright holders in this digital age for loads of reasons, including . . .