Have you ever screenshotted a photo from Instagram and reposted it? Or borrowed a quote from another creator’s video?
Every day we come into contact with content we can share, engage with and learn from. But at what point does borrowing become copyright infringement?
How can you avoid copyright infringement and protect yourself from penalties and nasty surprises?
We sat down with Yasmine Salem Hamdan, an intellectual property lawyer and founder of Coaches and Company to learn what every digital entrepreneur needs to know when it comes to copyright infringement. We also heard from Rosezena Pierce, a trademark and business attorney and founder of R.J. Pierce Law Group with over 118,000 followers on Instagram to find out her key tips on how to avoid copyright infringement and keep yourself and your business out of trouble.
Here’s what you need to know about copyright infringement and what the rules are. Skip ahead to a section here:
- What is copyright infringement?
- 7 Tips to avoid copyright infringement
- Different Types of Copyright infringement
- 3 questions to ask to help you avoid copyright infringement
Editor’s note: this article is for informational purposes only. Please consult a qualified legal professional before relying solely on the advice shared below.
What is copyright infringement?
Copyright infringement happens when you use copyright-protected material without the copyright holder’s permission. If you copy, share, show or lend copyright-protected content to other people, you’re in danger of copyright infringement.
Copyright infringement can include:
- Copying the content
- Issuing copies of the content to the public
- Renting or lending the content to the public
- Performing or showing it to the public
- Communicating it to the public
As a general rule of thumb, if something is worth copying, it is protected by copyright.
As well as the examples listed above – which are known as primary copyright infringement – you can also be guilty of secondary copyright infringement. This includes importing infringing copy, possessing an infringing copy and providing other people with the tools to make an infringing copy.
You’re still at risk of copyright infringement even if you:
- Got the content from someone else
- See other people using the content too
- Give credit to the original copyright owner
- Add a disclaimer like “I don’t own the rights” or “no infringement intended”
- Added your own material to the original content
It’s possible to infringe someone else’s intellectual property rights even without meaning to, so it’s important to always be aware of where you’re getting your content from and whether or not you actually have the right to be using it.
As Yasmine explains:
If you see it online and you’re like, “Oh my gosh, I wanna use that in my course. I wanna put that on a t-shirt. I wanna use it on my website,” make sure you have a proper license to use it.
That’s one of the biggest things that I see online as far as copyright infringement goes. And a lot of the time it’s unintentional, but you’re gonna learn that intention doesn’t always matter. And ignorance of the law is no excuse.
So how can you make sure you avoid copyright infringement?
7 Tips to avoid copyright infringement
Copyright infringement is illegal for both companies and individuals. Here are 7 tips to help you avoid copyright infringement and set your business off on the right track.
Understand who owns what content
At its most basic, the creator and owner of the original content is the only one who has exclusive rights to use it, reproduce it, publish it, and license it to others.
That means that if you haven’t created or bought the content you want to use, you’re at risk of copyright infringement.
Just because content is available for free on the internet, doesn’t mean you have the right to reproduce it. For example, if you find an image on Pinterest or an infographic on someone’s Facebook Story or another content channel, you can’t necessarily use it. To reproduce it, even to repost it on your Instagram page, can be considered infringement of someone’s copyright.
This applies to your content too – if you’ve created something original, it is your intellectual property and you have exclusive copyright. If someone else copies it or uses it without permission, this is illegal.
Don’t use any content without consent
To avoid copyright infringement, it’s really important not to use anyone else’s content without their written consent.
If you see something you like and want to share or use, the process can be as simple as sending a DM to the creator saying, “Hey, do you mind if I reshare this on my profile?” In other cases, it might be as comprehensive or as extensive as getting a full licensing agreement, depending on the type of content, the size of the brand and what you want to do with it.
This is the easiest and most essential way to avoid copyright infringement – if in doubt, ask for permission.
From copyright infringement to brand partnerships
As well as getting permission from copyright owners and avoiding copyright infringement, reaching out to other creators also offers an opportunity for your brand.
If you see something you love or you get inspired by another creator’s work, why not reach out about a potential brand partnership or co-marketing opportunity?
Rosezena Pierce has a great example of this – when she took her daughter to Disneyland, she noticed everyone was walking around with Mickey mouse shoes on. The shoes were Vans. To celebrate the 90th anniversary of Disney’s Mickey Mouse character, the two brands did a limited edition collaboration that resulted in a special collection of 11 Mickey Mouse designs.
For your own business, you can use brand collaborations to bring fresh ideas and expertise to your brand, while also opening up opportunities for co-marketing and tapping into new markets and brand communities.
Create unique content
The secret to copyright law lies in the concept of unique expression.
Other people will have created content related to your niche. If you’re a course creator, you’re unlikely to be the first person to teach about your topic. Crucially, the key to avoiding copyright infringement is to make sure that you put your own unique spin on your content.
Express the information in your own way, drawing on your own personal expertise in the area and using your own creative ideas. Create something that is unique to you, even if others have talked about this idea or this topic or this concept before. Be original and inventive with the way you present, explain and teach the content.
In short, don’t copy other creators. Ever.
Always get written copyright agreements
If you’re outsourcing certain tasks like design, content writing and photography, it’s essential to get a written copyright agreement that will transfer copyright ownership rights from the original creator to your business.
Without a contractual agreement, your intellectual property is not protected. The copyright belongs to the original creator – in this case the graphic designer, content writer or photographer – and they can do what they like with that content.
If you’re spending the money to create and promote your course or your business, you want to make sure that you own the content and have the copyrights. This is really critical to protect your intellectual property and avoid legal trouble in the future.
Make your copyright policy clear to customers
Help customers learn how to avoid copyright infringement by being clear about your copyright policy. If you’re engaging in one-on-one work with a client or you’re enrolling them in your product, course, or your digital service, make sure there are legal terms in place that clearly communicate the terms of use for your services.
This includes specifying how customers can access your content, how long they have access for, how they can use the content and how they can share it. Can they take that content and repurpose it for their own business? If the answer is no, make sure you’re communicating that in legal terms.
If you’re not sure how to do this or where to start, it’s best to consult a legal professional.
Understand the consequences of copyright infringement
Copyright infringement – whether intentional or unintentional – can be very messy for your business.
Intellectual property infringement of any kind can do serious damage to your reputation, which in turn can have extremely harmful consequences for your brand and your business. These consequences may be irreversible.
On top of the reputational risks, copyright infringement is illegal. This means it can lead to hefty fines and even imprisonment in some regions.
Make sure you know what copyright infringement is, who has ownership over the material you’re using and selling and what rights you’re granting to your customers.
Different Types of Copyright infringement
When you upload content to YouTube, Facebook and other social media sites, it’s important to make sure that your content is within copyright laws. Let’s take a look at how to avoid copyright infringement across different channels and tips you can use to keep your content legal. Always.
How to avoid copyright infringement on social media
Social media is one of the worst places on the internet for copyright infringement.
It’s really common to see people posting images, videos, graphics and music without any acknowledgment to the original owner or creator. Most of these posts don’t have permission from the copyright owner, so technically they’re infringing their intellectual property rights.
To keep your business and your brand out of trouble – and make sure you’re not taking credit or revenue away from other creators – here are 3 ways to avoid copyright infringement on social media.
Get permission before reposting
As with a lot of copyright infringement issues, the best way to avoid copyright infringement on social media is to make sure you get permission from the original creator or owner before reposting or using the content.
If you’re not sure who the owner is, don’t risk it. Use content from a free site that you know will be free from copyright restrictions, such as Canva or Pixabay.
Use built-in sharing tools
A great tip for how to avoid copyright infringement on social media is to use built-in sharing tools when reposting other creator’s content. For example, if you’re on Twitter and you want to share something from another account, hit the retweet button. Generally speaking, a retweet can’t legally be classed as direct copyright infringement so you’re covered.
You can share ideas that are relevant to your business and your audience, without risking copyright infringement.
Make your copyright policy clear
As well as sharing other people’s content, it’s also important to protect your own intellectual property rights on social media. Make it easy for your community to avoid copyright infringement by making your own copyright policy clear.
That includes specifying:
- How and when it’s ok to share your content
- How you’d like to be credited
- When people should ask your permission
If you can produce clear, straightforward guidelines for copyright related to your content, you can increase the chance that people will share your work responsibly and give you credit for what you’ve produced.
You’re always going to have people who break the rules, but copyright guidelines can help remind people what the limits are when it comes to your content.
How to avoid copyright infringement on YouTube
Copyright infringement is also a big problem on YouTube. With so many content creators producing and uploading their videos to the platform, the question of how to avoid copyright infringement on YouTube is an important one to cover.
Here are 3 tips you can use to help your avoid copyright infringement in your videos.
Create original footage
The easiest way to avoid copyright infringement on YouTube is to create and use your own content. That means putting yourself in front of the camera and using a unique script that you or a member of your team has written.
If you record your own videos and upload them, you can massively reduce the chances of being flagged for copyright infringement. Just make sure that what you’re saying is original too – don’t borrow other creators’ taglines or catch phrases!
Check the music copyright
When it comes to how to avoid copyright infringement on YouTube, one of the biggest pitfalls for content creators is music copyright.
YouTube allows copyright owners to make claims on any content that uses copyrighted material without prior permission and they have a special system that allows them to automatically trigger a copyright claim for copyrighted music.
This means there’s a high risk of you triggering a copyright claim if you use copyrighted music on your YouTube videos. To avoid copyright infringement on YouTube, you need to use stock music or royalty-free music for your videos. YouTube has an Audio Library where you can find music. You can also use popular music that has been released from copyright, available from music databases like Epidemic Sound or Lickd.
Watermark your content
To avoid other people from stealing your content, make sure you watermark your YouTube videos and include a copyright notice. Add your logo somewhere to the video. This helps make sure that anyone trying to use your content has to give you credit and avoids copyright infringement on YouTube.
You can also add a copyright policy to the end of your video and your caption, specifying that anyone wanting to use your content needs to obtain your permission first.
3 questions to ask to help you avoid copyright infringement
If you’re still not sure whether or not your content can be classed as copyright infringement, try asking these questions whenever you create a new piece of content for your brand:
- Have I created all of this content myself?
- If not, do I have permission to use all of the content included?
- If not, does my use of this content fall within an exception to copyright infringement like “fair use”?
Use these questions as a checklist to make sure you’re always within copyright laws and avoid any negative consequences for your business.
Get to grips with copyright laws and copyright infringement for your business
For content creators, copyright infringement is a key issue to understand – especially when you’re starting to create content online for the first time. It’s important to know how to avoid copyright infringement with your content and how to protect your intellectual property from other people.
When in doubt, it’s best to consult an intellectual property lawyer who can provide specific legal advice on issues relating to copyright infringement and your intellectual property rights.
