Lets say you made a song all by yourself, with no help from anyone else. You sang the lines, made the music, recorded it, and published it, all by yourself. You deserve to get the credit for it right? Of course! But some selfish person on the Internet took it without permission, changed a few parts and sold it and made millions. Imagine how upset and annoyed you would be! Then at that point, you'd wish you could do something to the person so they can learn their lesson and not steal your work or anyone else's. So here's where the law comes into action. You can sue the person for as much money as you want, just as long as you can prove they stole your work, and you get your justice. But here's the tricky part. If you didn't put a copyright on your work then you can face a series of problems. If you do however, then your good to go.
But say you didn't care who takes your work or who uses it and changes it and does whatever they want to it, in that case, you can make your product public domain. That means you can take someone else's work and change it, add things to it, and publish it and you can't be sued or get in trouble for it. Although, if you want to sell it, there might be some restrictions on that. Even though its public domain, it doesn't mean it doesn't have restrictions on it. For example, if you chose a song and you want to use it in your podcast and its public domain, and you decide to sell your podcast, you still need to check with the person who made the song your using because they might have rules against selling their work. You have to contact the person and ask.
If you want to use something on, for example, your podcast, then you need to contact the person/ people who own it. There isn't always one person who owns a piece of work. For example, you want to use a song in your podcast. You contact the singer and they give you permission, but then tell you that you need to contact the record company and ask them for permission too because they are the ones who actually own the song and published it. So you call them and ask, they say you can use it, but. . . . for a certain amount of money. Can you then use it even though the singer of the song gave you permission? No you cant, because it needs to be confirmed with everyone who owns the song, not just one person. On the other hand, if everyone gives you permission to use their work then you can safely use it. But always remember to have some written evidence, just in case.
Here's another thing. If you make something and it is copyright, and you suddenly die, your work will stay copyright for 50 years after you die, but after that, it will be public domain, even if you give your work to someone. You can also use something if it has not be copyright and is unpublished, or the copyright has been expired.
These are great rules you need to keep in mind when you want to use things off the Internet. Always check if the think you want to use is copyright or not, or any other rules that is on it. This applies to everything from pictures, songs, ring tones, videos, slogans, text or anything else. Keep in mind that if you break any laws, there is a possibility that you can get sued or get sent to jail. There are many things that you need to be careful about when you use other peoples work, and it can sometimes be a pain, but think about it. If someone used your work without permission and got all the credit for it, how would you fell ? Upset, sad, angry ? That's exactly how others would feel to.
So if you follow the rules, there is nothing you need to worry about!
Until next time.
Byee.
-Peggy.
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