copyright infringement?

[gwaan83]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Alabama

Hi.I made some music and I didn't get it copyright protected.I put the music on YouTube and somebody stole it & they are making money from it,selling it on Amazon.com & iTunes.They are getting money from performing shows.They reported it to YouTube that I stole it from them.I have all my files from the day I created it & I'm the only one with the files.What should I do?Thanks

 

[justalayman]

first, the us copyright office publishes tons of information, much of it in a very readable form, as opposed to legalese.

Here are a few links to some info. Do not hesitate to search on your own as well.

http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf


http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html


When you read all of that, and more, you will learn that to sue for copyright infringement, you have to register your work. That does not preclude you from taking other actions in an attempt to enforce your rights.


There is a benefit of registering your work sooner rather than later as well. In the future, you should consider registering your work asap.

so, to the matter:

you do not have to register your work to have copyrights and the right to defend them, to some extent. Copyrights are inherent in the work once it is produced in a tangible form and published. You met those requirements so the rights are yours.

You need to respond to the contact from yourtube with a denial of the other parties claims and along with that, file DMCA take down notice claiming the rights and your demand they refrain from continuing to publish your property without permission.
You must also contact Amazon and especially Itunes and make the same demand of them as well as any other online site that makes your music available to others or is using it in any way.

https://forums.aws.amazon.com/message.jspa?messageID=399950


http://www.apple.com/legal/internet-services/itunes/itunesstorenotices/

You will also want to send the band (and performers individually) notices to cease and desist all use of your works until/unless a license to use your works is agreed upon by you.


That will get you started. The next step is a big step though which is:

can you still register your rights and if so, what rights do you then have due to the time since publication and registration. So, when did you first publish the works?

If you can, then it would be prudent to do so.

if you have not already found a lawyer, it would be good to do so if you intend on doing anything other than sending threatening letters.

Who specifically has contacted you about the works and what have they demanded of you?

 

[gwaan83]

Thanks for the reply. Well,I created the track april 7,2011. The group started publishing it last year.The program that I use creates a time stamp of the date and time that it was created.I haven't found a lawyer yet & the guys that stole it didn't contact me.When they asked YouTube to take my music down,they left their contact info & it says if I have any questions I should contact an attorney.I was shocked that it happened & I didn't know what to do.When I contacted them I was only going to talk business and not threaten them.I wanted recornition that's all.Now I want to take them tp court and get some royalties if possible.

 

[justalayman]

http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-general.html


http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-register.html

time to start becoming educated.


stick around. Hopefully Quincy will post to your thread. He is the current IP law guru around these parts.

 

[Sloop John D]

If I recall correctly, you can still register the work after an infringement has occurred, and if the other party has not registered it yet it would probably be a good idea to get that taken care of as soon as possible.

I'm sure quincy will know more.

 

[quincy]

gwaan83, there is little I can add to what has already been provided you by justalayman. Sloop John D's reiteration of justalayman's advice to register your music now is an indication of how important this step can be to you in asserting your rights.

There could be problems with your registration, however, and this is why you should seek out the help of an attorney in your area. Having an attorney assist you now can make a difference in whether you will be able to recapture the rights in your music currently being claimed by the unauthorized users, and whether you can then be compensated for these unauthorized uses.

Sloop John D is correct that you can register your music now IF it has not already been registered by those currently claiming rights to it. If they have already registered your music under their names, they will be the presumed copyright owners of the music, and it can take a lot of time and effort and evidence (and oftentimes a lot of money) to overcome this presumption.

If you created the music in 2011 and you published the track online or elsewhere at or around that time, but you did not register the music at or around that time, then you will not be eligible to collect statutory damages for the infringement of your works. This would be the case even if you are able to register the music now. If you can register the music now, however, then you could potentially collect on any provable profits made by those using your work, or on any provable losses you have suffered as a result of the unauthorized uses.

You will need to register the copyright in your music if you want to file a copyright infringement suit against your infringers.

When you locate an attorney to handle this for you, the attorney may recommend, as a first step, sending a cease and desist letter to the infringers, containing a demand for compensation and a threat to sue if the demand is not met. A C&D letter sent by an attorney can often intimidate those in receipt of such a letter into settling the matter, to avoid a costly court action.

I suggest you follow the steps outlined by justalayman in getting your music removed from its locations online, and also access through the links he has provided the information on copyrights and infringement.

And, again, contact an attorney in your area - soon.

Good luck.