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

Hello, welcome

to this month's LinkedIn live.

If you are new here, I do

these every, last Wednesday

of the month at noon

Eastern, or I talk about

topics of interest for B2B

experts in protecting and

leveraging our expertise.

So I have been doing a series,

and this is the 3rd, the

last of series of 3, this

is the 3rd installment of

it where I'm talking about

copyright infringement.

Now, this is being recorded

for my podcast hourly to exit.

This will be episode 67 and

so if you haven't listened to

the last couple of episodes,

episode 65 was the 1st of the

series where I talked about.

What exactly constitutes

copyright infringement?

Believe it or not,

copying someone's work

doesn't always involve

copyright infringement.

and sometimes things that

you didn't think would be

copyright infringement are.

And so go back and

listen to that one.

If you haven't heard

it, I also talk about

what the penalties are,

what the remedies are.

which includes civil remedies

as well as criminal penalties.

Yes, there are circumstances

where copyright infringement

is a crime and can even

result in imprisonment.

And then episode 66 was part

2 where I talked about how

to not accidentally infringe

someone else's copyright.

Because some things that

we think are innocent,

but are actually copyright

infringements are still

infringements, and

there's this thing called

statutory damages that

are available even for

innocent infringements.

And so we want to make sure

that we are, respecting

each other's rights.

I like to call it, you do

on to others as you'd have

them do on to you with

respect to your intellectual

property and your expertise.

And so we want to be

respectful of everyone's.

Intellectual property rights.

these are episode 66.

We talk about how to

make sure we aren't

through our negligence

or through our ignorance,

infringing other people's

intellectual property rights.

So, today in part 3,

we're going to talk about

prevention measures.

And how to make sure that

we don't become a victim of

copyright infringement now

with that, I will say that,

it's virtually impossible

to prevent, copyright

infringement, there are

just the bad actors, right?

We know that there are

certain places that are

known for, their piracy

and we could spend a lot

of time, a lot of energy,

without much return trying

to prevent every instance of

copyright infringement and

I don't want you to do that.

I don't want you to become

obsessed with that, but

there are a combination

of legal, technical, and

some practical strategies

that we can use to reduce

the likelihood that your

copyright will be infringed.

And if it is infringed,

that you'll be able to

access 1 of the remedies.

So, 1st, the simplest, we

should all do it, which

is the copyright notice.

I can never tell if

you can see the bottom

of my slides or not.

I do have a copyright

notice on my slides.

I have them on all of

my slides and it is very

simply the C in a circle.

The year, and that would

be the year of publication.

So, let's say you,

started writing your

novel 5 years ago.

You're finally

ready to publish it.

that year would be the year

publication and your name.

should say the

copyright owner's name.

for instance.

In my slides, it has Aaron

Austin Law PLLC because

that is my employer.

And as my employer, it

owns the copyright and all

the things that I create.

And so that would be the

name of the copyright owner.

and the all rights reserved.

I don't know.

Sometimes I use that.

Sometimes I don't.

but basically, it's not

because it's required because

your copyright will attach.

Regardless of the copyright

notice it attaches at the

moment of creation, but

this is the way you put

it's literally the notice.

It puts the world on notice

and we're most concerned.

I mean, again, the

bad actors, good luck.

You're not going to stop them.

Right?

But from Pete from the

innocent infringers or

the negligent or lazy

infringer, that puts them

on notice that, something's

up on the Internet.

It actually isn't just there

for your free use, someone

claims copyright ownership

in it, and that is what your

first line of defense, or

first line of offense, is

letting people know that

you are the copyright owner,

and no, you just can't use

this without my permission.

And then the next line would

be registering your work.

Yes, you know, again,

the copyright protection

automatically attaches

when it's created, but you

do need to be registered.

That work needs to be

registered with the U.

S.

Copyright Office in order

to enforce your rights

against an actual infringer.

So if we go back to episodes

65, where I talk about the

remedies and the penalties.

work does need to be

registered in the US

Copyright Office in order

to access those remedies,

and those penalties and

not a super complicated

process, but it does have,

little bit of cost to it.

There is an

application process.

and so I don't recommend it

for everything you create.

If you're anything like

me, you're creating

content all day, every day.

But I do recommend it for

those, parts of your work

that you would go, I want

to sue them for taking

that, whatever that is.

Like they, took my book,

they took my course they

copied my whole website.

You these are the things

that you would hire

a lawyer to enforce.

Those are the things

that you want to have

registered and you need

to understand and use.

Contracts, we're going to talk

about licenses a little bit

more later on, but what some

people don't understand is

that your client agreements.

Include a license to use

your work and so you need

to make sure that the

parameters are clearly stated

in that contract agreement

about how your client can

use or reuse your work.

And so, when you have that

clearly stated in your

agreement, then you can access

those remedies if they use it

in a way that's not permitted

under your client agreement.

Talk about this a lot in other

trainings, because it is so

important in the work that

we do when we are experts

with corporate clients.

We are entering these

agreements all the time.

The client friendly

language that you may

be presented with.

You do need to look at it,

understand it and make sure

you are limiting client's

ability to reuse materials.

Watermarking.

So now we're going to get into

some technical, ways to, the

first three would be legal.

these would be some

technical ways you can

help deter infringement.

So watermarking.

Now, I will say that if anyone

out there has experience with

some of these techniques,

Technical measures, because

I personally do not.

I'd love to have you

share them with everyone.

So we can kind of think

about how we might be able

to use them in our businesses

as well as the cost.

I have not kind of put

some cost to these either,

but watermarking is way

that you can put something

that's either visual.

Let's say it's a

photograph that is in

there that says, that.

Someone else owns it, or

just couldn't even say

watermark so that someone

just can't take it and

stick it on their website.

they would have to

literally kind of.

I'm going to go through

the effort of removing this

watermark so I can use it.

That will keep something

from just very casually

taking your work and they're

also invisible watermarks

that can be detected, only

through use of some other

technology that would read

where the source of something

is, with someone has.

A copy of something that

they are permitted to

have it, but they're not

supposed to make copies

of it and distribute it.

You can have that

watermark in there.

So if it shows up somewhere,

like, that come from that?

You can go in and

decipher that watermark

and it will tell you.

Who created those copies?

And so that is another way

to prevent distribution

without your permission.

Digital rights

management or DMR.

That's a kind of

software as well.

Of course, not free, but

it is embedded in digital

content to make sure that you

control how it is distributed.

So it can prevent it from

being, further distributed.

Like, if you get something

on Kindle or audible, it'll

prevent you from just kind

of sharing it with everybody.

when you get a new laptop or

desktop, and it has software,

like, there's a version of it

in there, but you have to have

a key in order to unlock it.

That is a version of D.

R.

M.

I read this, although I

wasn't aware of this, and

hopefully you can confirm

this that apple iTunes use D.

R.

M.

to limit the number of devices

you can use, the music with

and wasn't aware of that.

but those are ways that we

can prevent it from being, uh,

distributed outside of the U.

S.

So, if you want to make

sure that your materials

don't leave the U.

S.

you can use as well.

that is a little bit

of a heavier, lift.

so that would be for something

that, obviously is very

valuable to you that you

really want to control.

Online monitoring tools

is another 1 that, very

effective, but expensive.

so, for instance, if you

have, or you've probably

heard of someone receiving

that cease and desist letter,

we'll talk about cease and

desist letters in a minute.

So.

from Getty images saying,

hey, I noticed that you

have 1 of our images on your

website and they send you

a license agreement for it.

Well, they're using

online monitoring.

So they have a way of

something to troll the

Internet and to pick up any

use of 1 or their images.

I imagine they have their

own bespoke software

to do that, but you can

also, subscribe, for that.

Um, and so you can find,

any other use of your

materials on the internet.

one of the suggested ways

of using this, which is I

think is kind of interesting,

which is basically the

Getty Images model.

Is that you find people who

are using your materials and

you use it as an opportunity

to get a license from them

to continue to use it.

if you rather that they

continue to use it and get

paid for it, rather than

have them take it down.

and so maybe you'll

even find that there is.

Some part of your content that

is frequently used, and maybe

that would be something that

you would want to create some

sort of licensable content

out of that, because you

know that there's actually

a demand out there for it

and some practical things,

offering a legitimate way to

access your materials kind of

back to the last point, there

may be things that people

want to use, but it's just.

Kind of a lot of work to

figure out how to do it.

How do I get a license?

Who owns it?

What do I have to do?

and just from that alone, it

creates enough friction that

they just kind of take it

and hope nobody notices, I

think this probably happens

a fair amount in connection

with, presentations where

people will go, you know,

I want to refer to this

graphic or this book or this.

Thing, and do I need

to get a license?

Can I have

permission to use it?

Well, I don't have the

time or the resources

to figure it out.

So I'm just going to use it

and hope nobody notices and

probably nobody does notice,

but we do want to make sure

that we are complying with

the law because of somebody.

Does notice it is in fact,

copyright infringement,

and there are statutory

damages attached to

those infringements.

And so I like to encourage

people, if there's

something that there's

an easy way to give them

access to it, then do it.

I mean, for me, it

is on my to do list.

I don't know even what number

it is on my to do list, but

is to get creative commons

license, which I talk about.

Thank you.

A lot in the prior episodes,

those are standard licenses

that have predetermined,

terms for how someone can use

your copyrighted material.

And so you can have a creative

common license that says, hey,

you know, you can use this.

For commercial purposes,

but you have to give me

attribution, or you can only

use it for non commercial

purposes, or, you can use it.

So long as you don't

change anything.

And so that gives

a very easy way.

People can see right on There

are symbols that tell you

how you can use this work,

and be in compliance with.

The copyright license

to use that work.

And for me, I have a ton of

free content and I am happy

for people to spread the word.

I want everyone to

spread the word that is

everywhere and that, know,

we can create scalable

and saleable businesses.

I want the more of the

people talk about it,

the better it is and in

achieving, my mission to

make sure we help more

wealth in the hands of women.

And so I'd be happy to

have people use my free

content, but I would like.

To get credit for it.

So I like from the use

it with attribution.

I would not like someone

to take my free content

and package it and sell it.

So I would like them to

use it, but use it in a

way that there it's also

free non commercial use.

So, when we make it easy

for people to license our

materials, then they're

more likely to, comply

with those licenses and

not get sneaky about it.

So, I do like that.

and the other ways is just

to have it on a platform that

can do that for you, such as

if you are a photographer, or

you have a course, when you

put them on a platform where

people can just automatically

access it, it will have the

terms of how you can use

that material right there.

They don't have to

negotiate anything.

They can see right there.

They don't have to.

Have a nervous conversation

that can just get access to

it and use it within, the

bounds of that license and

then educating the public.

It's important that we

have these conversations.

It's important that if you

have a community, especially

for those of you who are

business coaches for us to

talk about how important it

is for us to respect each

other's intellectual property.

And, I know.

Business coaches that you

get questions from your

clients about, Can I use

this book in my course?

how do I prevent my, client

from your use my materials?

can I use this thing

off of the Internet?

And these are things that we.

Can educate ourselves

about through things like

this to make sure we kind

of understand the basics.

No, 1's trying to, make you

an IP lawyer, but just to

understand the basics of what

good intellectual property

hygiene is, maybe put it

that way to talk to our

communities about it as well

and keeping records, I wish

I had an example, maybe I

will try to have an example.

The next time I talk about

this is that, if you don't

register something, like, I'm

not going to register this,

presentation, when somebody

steals it, like, it's good to

have a record to show that.

You were the originator

of that material.

You don't want someone to

steal your material, register

in the copyright office,

and then say, hey, she's

infringing on my rights.

You want to make sure that

you're able to show when

something was created,

who created it and,

have that documentation.

Let's say you hired

a contractor to

create something.

So you hired someone to.

create your logo and you

think it's original and

you're using it, but then

they use that same logo

with somebody else thinking

you're never going to notice.

And then you have a conflict,

making sure that you have

documentation to show that you

own something is important.

So it's important to keep

records, as well, and then

limit distribution, back kind

of to the DMR, being about

where you put things, you

there's some places where you

have a more sophisticated.

Audience that's unlikely

to steal your materials,

things that you publish

on linkedin, the things

you publish on medium,

things that you publish.

Well, I don't know about

YouTube, but, that people kind

of understand that they can't

steal it may be some other

places, where if you publish

things that it may be more

of a free for all atmosphere.

And it's even possible that

it says somewhere in the

terms and conditions that

anything that you publish

here, you give a license

to that platform or to that

website to use it as it will.

It says that in terms of

conditions that by publishing

something there, you're

granting them a license.

So you need to be aware of

where you're publishing things

and what the terms of that.

And then actively

enforce your rights.

So to that cease and desist

letter, if you find someone

has stolen your materials

and they're using it in

a way that you think is

a copyright infringement,

then you should send a

cease and desist letter.

it is something that,

obviously has more gravity

if it comes from a lawyer,

but it doesn't have to.

there are.

examples of cease and desist

letters on the Internet.

It is on my to do list to

have a sample for you to use.

I will, Do that and let

you know when I have one of

those available for free, to

send to the infringer saying,

hey, I saw that you have

republished my website as your

own and it demands that they

cease and desist distribution

of your materials.

And, of course, you reserve

your rights in case you need

to take it to the next step.

Another way is through

a takedown notice.

And that is something that

you send to the ISP, like,

so let's say you see, you're

on YouTube and you see that

somebody has uploaded a video

of yours and so you would send

a takedown notice to YouTube

and,, they're very clear, like

the statute says exactly what.

The takedown notice needs

to say, and you follow, and

the ISP should also have

that in their terms of use.

They should also have

what you need to do them

a takedown notice, who you

send it to, and then the ISP

is obligated to take to act

on that if they don't want

to be, accused of covering

infringement themselves.

And then, if these, kind

of less formal, techniques

don't work, you've sent your

cease and desist, you've

sent your takedown notice,

someone still continues to

infringe, or if there's a

habitual or intentional,

infringements, then that's

time to talk to a lawyer.

again, those would be for

things that you'd be willing

to pay for someone's legal

fees for, lawyers, typically

don't work for free.

and they typically don't work

on contingency basis either.

So, it would need to

be something that,

has the value to you.

To enforce those rights,

through a use of a lawyer.

Now, I mean, there can

be, you certainly it

can scare people away.

That letter coming from a

lawyer can be the, kind of

an escalation before you

get to the serious legal

fees, to get people to stop

doing what they're doing.

So, again, there's no.

Single strategy, there's

no, absolutes regarding

copyright infringements.

It's going to happen by

bad actors, but it'll

also happen, just through

negligence or innocence.

that's really what we want to

just make sure that we are.

doing what we need to do

to protect our rights and

reduce the incidence of

copyright infringement and the

severity when it does happen.

So, with that, I would be

happy to take any questions.

You can pop them into the

chat and I'd also love to

hear about any experiences

that you've had with

copyright infringement

or any, techniques you've

used to prevent it.

again, I do this every

last Wednesday of the

month at noon, Eastern.

So any questions that you have

that you didn't have a chance

to ask today, please send them

to me and I will address them.

And also, I'm happy to take

suggestions for future.

LinkedIn lives or future

regular podcast episodes, and

I do encourage you to check

out the prior 2 episodes

that are parts 1 and 2 of the

copyright infringement series

and also, to get your copy of.

my expertise copyrightable,

which is a free assessment

that takes you through the

process of whether or not

something can be protected

through copyright law,

including, Things like, IA

generated content because

an essential element for

copyright ability is that

something is created by a

human, but that's just one

of many of the elements that

need to be analyzed to see

if something is eligible

for copyright protection.

You can get a copy of that

on my website, thinkbeyondip.

com.

And of course, if we aren't

connected, please do connect

with me here on LinkedIn.

Thanks.