MYTH: Copyright only protects against actual copying. If you have not copied someone's work, there is no infringement.
The JURY SAYS: False. Although you may see court case references that say “ to prove infringement, you have to show copying by the defendant,” “copying” is a shorthand reference to violations of the Copyright Act. The Copyright Act gives copyright owners five exclusive rights: 1) the right to reproduce their work (i.e. “copying” in the traditional sense), 2) the right to prepare derivatives from their work, 3) The right to display their work in public, 4) The right to distribute their work to the public and 5) The right to perform their work in public. Even if you are not reproducing, or “copying” someone’s work, you can run afoul of one of the other four exclusive rights granted by the Copyright Act.
MYTH: I am allowed to copy someone’s copyrighted work as long as I am not selling it.
THE JURY SAYS: False. There is no personal use exemption in U.S. copyright law. Although there are some exceptions when it comes to things like ripping CDs onto your computer (the Recording Industry Association of America has said this is allowable), generally reproducing a copyrighted work without the owner’s permission is a potential violation in and of itself regardless of whether you are selling the item or not. The right of reproduction and the right of distribution are insular and separate rights and can be violated separately. Just because you have not violated the distribution right does not mean there is no violation at all.
In reality, however, if you copy a Mickey Mouse graphic from the Internet and reproduce it onto a shirt for your kid to wear, although it can be a technical violation, the likelihood that you will be “caught” is slim to none. Selling items does make it much more likely you will be flagged by the copyright owner.
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