If you own a business or run a nonprofit, you’re probably creating (and needing) more content than ever. It’s easy to find and use words, visuals, and music on the internet, but don’t let that ease fool you. Copyright law is still extremely important, and you can still be held legally accountable for violating it even if it seems like everyone is doing it.
While fines can be on the lower end (a few hundred dollars), they can also be up to $250,000 plus potential jail time for plagiarism, $30,000 for accidental infringement/$150,000 for willful infringement on images, and $30,000 for each use of a song. If you took the content you created using the copyrighted material and posted it on three social media accounts, that’s three separate instances. You really don’t want to roll the dice. It’s also worth noting that if you agreed to terms and conditions you didn’t read, that’s not considered “accidental.”
Obligatory disclaimer: I’m not a legal expert, so do consult with an attorney. Also, what I’m saying only applies to the United States, so if you’re not in the USA, this may not apply to you.
In my experience, these are some of the things you must consider to stay legal:
- Mostly everything is copyrighted, regardless of where you saw it. All creative works made since 1978 are considered copyrighted by the creator at the moment of creation. Writers, artists, photographers, musicians, designers, or creators of any kind do NOT have to go through any legal process to have something copyrighted. They don’t have to post a notification that something is copyrighted, and they don’t have to display the copyright symbol. Any and every form of writing, photography, music, and art fall under this rule. Everything you see on google, everything you download from Canva, everything you copy and paste from social media, everything pretty much everywhere is covered under copyright law. Just know that nothing is automatically safe to use without consideration. The reason for the laws is not to put undue burden on you; it is to protect the people who are trying to earn a living through their writing, music, and art. Even on the internet, they deserve to be compensated for their time and skill.
- That said, certain things are safe. Your own work is always safe to use (pictures you took yourself, your own designs, your own music, your own writing). Also safe is work specifically made by an employee (who is also following copyright law) as part of their regular job (more about work made by vendors below). The Library of Congress maintains a huge database of works that are free to use (link). Fair use (satire, commentary, criticism) is allowed, but you want to be very careful that what you’re doing actually falls under the definition. It’s also safe to use anything in the public domain, which are works owned by everyone. For anything published after 1977, the copyright expires 70 years after the death of the author or last surviving author if the work is a collaboration. Anything published prior to 1928 (as of the date of this post) is in the public domain. For the in-between years, you have to check with the copyright office because there were renewal rules that may or may not have been followed. There are also works that have been made public domain by their creators, and other exceptions to copyright law, so if you’re interested in using something in the public domain, check the department of labor website (link) or the US Copyright Office website (link).
- You can license Creative Commons works for free. Businesses, Organizations, and individual creators often grant licensing through the Creative Commons. When using these works, pay careful attention to which kind of license has been granted to you. The licenses regulate whether you must attribute the work to the original creator, whether you may or must modify the work, and whether you may use it for commercial purposes, among other considerations. Visit this site (link) for a full list of Creative Commons licensing.
- The terms and conditions absolutely matter on stock sites (Adobe, Envato elements, Artlist, etc.) and on Content Creation apps (Canva, Adobe Express, etc.). Music and photographs are usually more heavily regulated than templates and icons, but you still want to be sure of what you’re doing no matter what you use. A graphic dropped onto a template in Canva may be fine for posting on social media but not ok to put on a tee shirt you sell, while a similar graphic on Envato might have to be altered significantly to be used at all but then could be used for promotion or profit. In some instances, you must sublicense the item for it to be used in another location or by another person. Even though you pay for these sites, and they are very easy to use, you still need to understand the terms and conditions. Usually, you are limited by the type of use, whether it’s for commercial purposes, and whether you’re altering it (generally, services that require attribution do not want you altering the works, whereas sites that grant full licensing may require the work to be significantly altered).
- You may or may not have the right to use works created specifically for you. Read your contracts with outside vendors (musicians, photographers, designers, VoiceOver actors, etc.), and be wary of people who don’t specify this in their contract. Sometimes a freelancer will not specify ownership of works out of inexperience even though they would never be dishonest, but sometimes it’s an intentional move to ensure future profits. I’ve had multiple people tell me horror stories of losing the right to use their own logos and having to pay damages to the creator. Ownership ranges from the creator retaining all rights to “works made for hire,” where the client retains all rights. Usually, people land on something in between (it’s very common for the creator to retain the right to showcase the work in a portfolio, for example). There are valid reasons for every level of ownership and licensing. It’s not necessarily a red flag if someone is retaining ownership of certain works, but it is a red flag if ownership is not specified in the contract and discussed in advance.
- Sharing. Sharing on social media is fine/good/encouraged, because it automatically attributes the source. Even if you haven’t traced something to its original source, you are highly unlikely to be held accountable for any infringement as long as you have shared the post. The same goes for memes and gifs that you didn’t personally create. However, once you take the post and post it as your own (without sharing or citing your source), you could be infringing someone’s copyright.
- AI is a sticky little situation. The law has not caught up to the technology as far as AI is concerned. If you have AI creating content, you probably aren’t going to be held accountable for copyright violations (I say probably, but we really don’t know what will happen). At some point, presumably, the people training the AIs could be held accountable for their use of copyrighted works to do so. It’s a good idea to be a little extra cautious with AI until we see where the regulations land. Also, remember, you don’t own the copyright to things you have AI create for you. Those things are not considered your original works, so you don’t have recourse if people “steal” them from you.
Almost everyone is feeling the pressure to produce more content these days. When in doubt, it’s best to create your own content or hire a reputable vendor who comes to a reasonable agreement with you about ownership. Always read the terms and conditions of services you use, even though it’s a huge pain. Link to your sources, request permission when that’s appropriate, and never just copy and paste other people’s work.
Substance and Style 