Copyright Infringement
Copyright safeguards a wide range of creative expressions, including visual arts, music, architectural designs, source code, software, literary works, and sculptures. Individuals, artists, musicians, and small businesses frequently produce copyrighted material and must protect their own works while avoiding infringement on others' copyrights. For small businesses with employees generating work products, this issue is particularly crucial, both for defending their own creations and for ensuring they do not violate the rights of others.
Our copyright lawyers focus on two main objectives: pursuing legal action against those who infringe on our clients' copyrights and assisting clients in avoiding copyright infringement. Many of our clients possess valuable creative works that may be subject to infringement, requiring legal intervention to safeguard their rights. The Copyright Act offers a range of remedies, including actual damages, statutory damages of varying amounts depending on the infringement, attorney's fees, and injunctive relief. However, not all remedies are automatically available, so we provide regular counsel to help clients protect their creative works in a legally compliant way to ensure they can access all the remedies provided by the Copyright Act.
In the field of copyright law, our attorneys have handled numerous high-profile cases that challenge the limits of copyright regulations. These cases have explored issues such as the tension between intellectual property rights and First Amendment freedoms, the extent of fair use rights online, the enforcement of foreign copyright laws in U.S. courts, the boundaries of the work-for-hire doctrine, the exercise of copyright termination rights, and the scope of the first sale doctrine. Our diverse client base includes major Hollywood studios, producers, screenwriters, artists, architects, musicians, computer programmers, publishers, and photography agencies.
In the digital age, copyright infringement is widespread due to the ease with which people can reproduce and build upon existing works. Modern internet businesses encounter a range of complex copyright issues governed by the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Under the DMCA, some businesses may benefit from a safe harbor provision, which grants immunity from copyright infringement claims based on their users' activities, depending on the circumstances. Conversely, these businesses might also lose this protection and become liable for infringements occurring on their platforms if certain conditions are not met.
Our attorneys have extensive experience litigating the DMCA and understanding its nuances, allowing us to effectively handle both prosecuting and defending actions related to its scope. We also provide guidance to clients navigating the complex landscape of fair use in the digital era and the challenges posed by recent legislative developments such as the DMCA.
