Copyright enforcement laws provide civil and criminal remedies for infringement. Owners of copyrights can bring infringement suits and seek injunctions or restraining orders. Governments use enforcement to deter infringement, with penalties including jail time and fines. Prosecutors can also pursue cases and seek prison sentences for intentional infringement.
Copyright enforcement laws offer civil and criminal remedies for copyright infringement. Some commercial entities offer rewards to people who report copyright infringement, such as software piracy, and bring lawsuits based on the information they provide. Businesses and individuals can often seek two types of enforcement in domestic courts, namely injunctions and restraining orders. Governments often use copyright enforcement laws to try and deter copyright infringement, and enforcement includes jail time and fines. In some jurisdictions, such as in the federal courts of the United States, a prison sentence for a guilty verdict for copyright infringement can range from one to three years.
A creator of original works, known as the author, owns the copyrights. Registration of such copyright often informs the public of the creator’s exclusive right to reproduce, distribute, or make a derivative work of it. Whether or not the copyrights are registered, the individual who owns the copyrights can bring a copyright infringement suit when another company, government agency, or individual uses it without permission. Courts often have several copyright enforcement remedies that the individual can take advantage of if they win the case.
Injunctions are often used as copyright enforcement in copyright infringement cases brought by individuals and companies. An injunction is a court order that prevents the infringer from further use of the copyrighted material. A violation of an injunction is often considered contempt of court, and the court may pursue a variety of penalties associated with it, including jail time. The injunction may also require the defendant to do something, such as supply all copies of the copyrighted material in its possession or remove it from its website. A restraining order serves a similar function to an injunction in that it prevents the defendant from doing anything with copyrights, but a court might order a temporary order early in the case until the case is decided.
Prosecutors can also file copyright infringement prosecutions on behalf of the governments they represent and pursue copyright enforcement remedies. A prosecutor often has to prove that the defendant intentionally used the copyrighted material without permission for profit or to obtain something of value. Copyright enforcement laws in many jurisdictions state that a defendant can be sentenced to prison if he is found guilty. A judge may also fine the defendant instead of giving a prison sentence or do a combination of the two. The term of imprisonment varies from one to three years, and is at the discretion of the judge as well as the value of the copies made for profit.
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