Digital BW, The Print

Mark Hahn wrote:

>  Think people 
>should worry more about selling prints than worrying about copyright 
>infringement.
>
>  
>
Not these days, when things are so easily copied...

And did I mention?  A print could be a few hundred or so dollars.. Do 
you know what statutory damages are in the US for copyright violation on 
ONE registered image?  Without ANY necessity to show actual damages?

A statutory damage of $500 to $20,000 for each instance of copying. For 
statutory damages, if there's willful infringement, the court may 
increase damages to $150,000. Whereas, if there's a finding of innocent 
infringement, the court may lower the damage to $200.


That's without any showing of actual damages to the copyright holder by 
the usage.  Even in a case here the copyright violation might actually 
have provided more exposure and sales for the artist, statutory 
penalties are NOT mitigated by that fact.

You also have the option of suing for actual damages, up to $100,000, 
instead of the statutory limits mentioned above.

Without a copyright notice, you'd almost axiomatically be reduced to a 
case for innocent infringement.  Accordingly, someone could make copies 
of your image, sell them, and you could potentially recover only $200. 
That's why a copyright notice is so important..

 
Keith Krebs

"Just some guy," caretaker of the Multiverse's largest EPSON printer 
User Community (highly recommended by Vogon Poets and MegaDodo 
Publications), at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EPSON_Printers/
and  the Multiverse's largest Canon printer User  Community at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Canon-printers
"For the rest of you out there, the secret is to bang the rocks together 
guys"

 

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