How To Avoid Copyright Infringement

Copyright infringement is not an easy thing to explain. While it may seem as simple as not using someone elses work, its not that easy. Thanks to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and many other organizations, we have the ability to use others works -- as long as we use it under Fair Use laws. So what does Fair Use have to do with copyright infringement, and how can you utilize it?

Fair Use laws allow us to use a copyrighted work without having to pay someone royalties. This includes using a copyrighted work for educational or instructional uses, criticism of the work, commentaries on the work, news reporting about the work, teaching on the work (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship uses, and research. This is talked about fully in Section 107 of the Copyright Code (commonly called Fair Use) and is available for you to read at your local library.

Copyright Infringement in day-to-day life

Sometimes, if youre writing a paper for work or school, or if you are creating a Power Point presentation, you need to use someones work that is already in copyright. So how do you use it without committing copyright infringement? All you have to do is ask -- the worst they can say is no, right? But, if they do say no, there are several items in the public domain which may help you to finish your project without having to commit copyright infringement.

What is the public domain, and how does it relate to copyright infringement?

Material that is not copyrighted is considered in the public domain. You cannot commit copyright infringement on works in the public domain. These works include things that the copyright has expired on, or is not copyrightable -- such as government publications, jokes, titles, and ideas. Some creators (writers, musicians, artists, and more) deliberately put their work in the public domain, without ever obtaining copyright, by providing an affiliation with Creative Commons. Creative Commons allows people who create materials to forfeit some, or all, of their copyright rights and place their work either partially or fully in the public domain.

So, how do I ensure Im not committing copyright infringement?

First of all, if youre going to use someone elses material, you may want to check the public domain to see if something is suitable for use, instead of trying to use someone elses copyright. However, if you cant find something suitable (and you cant create something yourself), the next best thing (and your only legal course of action) is to find a piece that is in copyright, and contacting the copyright holder.

When you contact the copyright holder, make sure you tell them what you want to use their piece for -- whether its for your blog, podcast, or report -- and ask if you can use it. You may have to pay royalties, or an attribution in your piece, or a combination of both. The creator may also place many limitations on when and how you can use their material. Follow all these instructions they give you, and youll be free and clear to use their work as you want.

Once you have permission to use a copyrighted work, you need to make sure you stay within the agreed-upon boundaries. If you veer outside their agreed terms, you may open yourself up for a copyright infringement lawsuit, which can be nasty, costly, and time consuming. If youre in doubt, before contacting the copyright holder, contact a copyright lawyer to ensure youre following the law -- and protect yourself!

QUESTION: If you hear a great new band, and then download a song from MySpace, is that legal or not?

ANSWER: The events of copyright infringement are not only limited by Kazaa, Morpheus, or some other file sharing peer to peer (P2P) service. If you download a song -- no matter if youre on a website or a MySpace page -- and it isnt coming from the artist themselves, you may want to think about downloading it. Chances are, if its not coming from them, you cant have it -- unless it is under a Creative Commons License. Creative Commons gives the exact ways in which you can use the license -- and many times those are completely free and legal to download, so make sure you check if its under a CC License.

QUESTION: If Im writing a paper, or article, and I want to quote another website, can I?

ANSWER: First of all, did you know the minute you write or create something, you hold the copyright to it? ESPECIALLY if youre writing it online -- its very easy to track things on the Internet. So, if youre writing a blog, all the things youve written (no matter good or bad) are recorded, thanks to Archive.org, which lets you review last versions of your web pages.

Sometimes, we can use someone elses work in our own, and think were small and anonymous. That no one will notice by the time you get it down -- youre just borrowing it. Before you begin quoting anyones website -- from CNN to your local neighborhood hardware store -- you need to ask the person who holds the copyright if you can. Usually, theyll let you if you attribute to them. Depending who you talk to, youll either have to pay royalties or license rights to republish. If you dont ask before you quote, youre beginning the events of copyright infringement and you are opening yourself up for a lawsuit.

Richard Cunningham is a freelance journalist who covers copyright law for http://www.ResearchCopyright.com. Download his free e-book, "Copyright Basics" at http://ResearchCopyright.com.

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7 Days To Affiliate Marketing Mastery!

Are you struggling with your affiliate business? Discover how to become a super affiliate in seven days with a complete step-by-step affiliate marketing blueprint.

Many affiliates are not making any money with the programs they promote because they are simply making a lot of mistakes, which prevent them from bringing their affiliate marketing business to the next level.

The right affiliate strategy can help you make your first sale in one week, or more. It will depend on how much effort you put into the battle.

Follow these seven days to affiliate marketing profit and you should do well, and see your first affiliate sale very soon. When I saw that blueprint for the first time, I was skeptical; but when I saw commissions in my affiliate account, I knew that the process was working perfectly.

The problem is not in the process but with the affiliate marketer who didn't set a clear goal with a plan and didnt take action to achieve the success that many other super affiliates are enjoying.

So here is the plan that you must follow if you want to make your first commission in affiliate marketing...next week:

Day 1: Find a profitable market

Finding a profitable market is where most affiliates fail and then give up. It's not their fault, but nobody takes the time to explain that.

When you are starting, it is better to start with a huge market that is already profitable, like golf, weight loss, finance, self-help, beauty, sports, fitness...

Start by researching what those people want, what they are searching for on the Internet. For that, you will need a keyword research tool like Goodkeywords.com or Yahoo search marketing tool.

Day 2: Find an affiliate product for this market

Before finding the product, try to identify the needs of your targeted market. Your chosen product must be excellent; and you want to have a good commission that will reward you, motivate you and cover your affiliate campaign costs. You can start with clickbank.com or cj.com.

You must verify the sales page to see if it will convert your visitors into sales.

Day 3: Know and understand your product

Know that the goal of the affiliate is to pre-sell and not to sell. The merchant must sell his product, not you.

You should pre-sell (capture and warm up) your product to your subscriber. For that, you need to know the benefits of the product for your subscribers, and the best way to do that is to own the product.

Day 4: Prepare your advertising plan

Prepare your material: ads, articles, where you will advertise this affiliate program: Start with articles and pay-per-click traffic via Google Adwords.

Day 5: Prepare yourself to capture your prospects

You must not send your visitor to the merchant page, but you must capture his name and email address first, to secure your future affiliate commissions.

Day 6: Write your killer follow-up material

After capturing his email address, the pre-written message in your autoresponder will do the work for you and close the sale.

Day 7: Drive tons of traffic to your lead capture page

When everything is ready, start to advertise your affiliate program. Actually, you will show your lead capture (also called opt-in or squeeze page) page to the world, and take your future buyer's email address. One of the most effective ways to advertise it is to write articles.

Remember: the affiliate marketing process works, and it is perfect. But it will not work without you. So take action, and when you start to see your affiliate commissions, you will know that it is working; and you will be able to master the affiliate marketing game and become a super affiliate.

Franck Silvestre is an active affiliate marketer who loves to teach others how to make money online. Get a free ebook on affiliate marketing when you visit: http://www.MyNetMarketingland.com/Affiliate-Marketing.html

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Getting in to Gigging

Theres a lot more to organising a gig than most people think; it can be an easy process, but most of the time troubles arise. Make sure you do it the right way and avoid the problems that so many others have to face.

Start Early: Make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to get the gig organised. Yes, you want to get bands playing and get your teeth in to it as soon as you can, but the longer you have to organise and promote your gig is ultimately better. Try to book a gig a few months in advance.

Dont go for all the popular bands: So you can get 4 big bands to play together and bring in quite a big crowd with each, but realistically, how many times does that band play in the same place within a few month of each other; the bigger the band, the more times theyve been there before. Try out a gig with one bigger headliner and three smaller up-coming bands. Each of the bands get the gigging experience, and being younger and newer they probably havent played many shows; that means more of their fans want to see them, and their show is something more special even than the headliners.

Dont overload: Both on equipment and bands. Only put on as many bands as you think is necessary, dont try to squeeze out 5 minute change-overs just so you can stick another band on, play it safe and keep it smooth. The same goes for equipment, using one drum kit all night is best, and getting the bands to help each other out when it comes to amplifiers is always a big bonus. Less equipment = less hassle, which ultimately = smoother gig.

Think big: Just because your putting on a small gig at the local music venue doesnt mean it cant sell out. With the right promotion and the right bands, any gig can get close to selling out on the night. Always think big when it comes to creating posters and promoting; look at professional posters and find the bits that draw attention. Stay away from cluttered posters with band websites and reviews scribbled all over them - when it comes down to it, the only thing people need to know is who and where the bands are playing.

Get on the bandwagon: So you dont like MySpace, you dont like Facebook, you dont like PureVolume get over it and get on promoting. MySpace is the biggest promotion tool you could ever dream of. Make a digital copy of the poster and send it to all your MySpace friends; tell the bands to send it to theirs and tell them to keep sending it on to their friends. Viral marketing is key to a successful gig.

Pre-Sell tickets: This can not be stressed enough! Pre-selling tickets means that those people who like to say theyre coming to a gig, but fail to show up have a ticket before they get there. It works as an insurance policy so people know they have a ticket, and will come to the gig because of it. If the worst comes to it, then youve still got the money from the advance tickets.

Sound check everyone early: Most engineers will tell you that it is better to sound check each band, and it is. Make sure that you get the bands to the venue quite a while before the gig so each gets time to sound check fully. Most bands will be happy to show up if they know theyre having a good sound check for the show.

From experience, gigs go much more successfully when you inject a bit of common sense in to the equation; dont go in feet first, plan and get it right. Anyone can put on a successful gig when they know how.

Pete Crewdson is a music journalist and gig promoter. He runs his own online music magazine in the Devon area (http://www.hysteriamag.com) and is famed for his online fan site for Linkin Park (http://www.forfeitthegame.com).

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