1) introduction of Intellectual Property Laws

A wide body of federal and state laws protects creative property such as writing, music,
drawings, paintings, photography, and films. Collectively, this body of law is called “intellectual
property” law, which includes copyright, trademark, and patent laws, each applicable in various
situations and each with its own set of technical rules.

When obtaining permission to use creative works, you’re concerned primarily with copyright
law. However, trademarks, trade secrets, and publicity and privacy rights sometimes come into
play when permission to use certain types of works is sought. Below is a summary of the various
types of intellectual property laws that are relevant to the permissions process. Later chapters
provide more details as needed.

 Copyright. Original creative works such as paintings, writing, architecture, movies,

software, photos, dance, and music are protected by federal copyright law. A work must
meet certain minimum requirements to qualify for copyright protection (discussed in
Chapters 8, 9, and 13). The length of protection also varies depending on when the work
was created or first published. (See Chapter 8 for an explanation of copyright duration.)
 Trademark. Brand names such as Nike and Avis, as well as logos, slogans, and other
devices that identify and distinguish products and services, are protected under federal
and state trademark laws. Unlike copyrighted works, trademarks receive different degrees
of protection depending on numerous variables, including the consumer awareness of the
trademark, the type of service and product it identifies, and the geographic area in which
the trademark is used. (See Chapter 10.)
 Right of Publicity. The image and name of a person are protected under a patchwork of
state laws known as the right of publicity. These laws protect against the unauthorized
use of a person’s name or image for commercial purposes — for example, the use of your
picture on a box of cereal. The extent of this protection varies from state to state. (See
Chapter 12.)
 Trade Secrets. State and federal trade secret laws protect sensitive business information.
An example of a trade secret would be a confidential marketing plan for the introduction
of a new software product or the secret recipe for a brand of salsa. The extent of trade
secret protection depends on whether the information gives the business an advantage
over competitors, is kept secret, and is not known by competitors. (See Chapter 10.)
 Right of Privacy. Although not part of intellectual property laws, state privacy laws
preserve the right of all people to be left alone. Invasion of privacy occurs when someone
publishes or publicly exploits information about another person’s private affairs. Invasion
of privacy laws prevent you from intruding on, exposing private facts about, or falsely
portraying someone. The extent of this protection may vary if the subject is a public
figure — for example, a celebrity or politician.

3. Intellectual Property Basics

Intellectual property is a creation of the intellect that is owned by an individual or an

organization which can then choose to share it freely or to control its use in certain ways.
Intellectual property is found almost everywhere – in creative works like books, films, records,
music, art and software, and in everyday objects like cars, computers, drugs and varieties of
plants, all of which have been developed thanks to advances in science and technology. The
distinctive features that help us choose the products we buy, like brand names and designs, can
fall within the scope of intellectual property.

Even the place of origin of a product can have rights attached to it, as is the case with
Champagne and Gorgonzola. Much of what we see and use on the Internet, be it a web page or a
domain name, also includes or represents some form of intellectual property.

Why is intellectual property protected and who benefits from it?

Through a system of intellectual property rights, it is possible not only to ensure that an
innovation or creation is attributed to its creator or producer, but also to secure "ownership" of it
and benefit commercially as a result. By protecting intellectual property, society acknowledges
the benefits it contributes and provides an incentive for people to invest time and resources to
foster innovation and expand knowledge.

The intellectual property system is designed to benefit society as a whole, striking a delicate
balance to ensure that the needs of both the creator and the user are satisfied. Intellectual
property rights usually allow the rightsholder to exercise rights over the use of his or her work
for a limited period of time.

In return for granting such rights, the intellectual property system contributes to society by:

 Enriching the pool of public knowledge and culture;

 Maintaining fair competition and encouraging the production of a wide range of quality goods
and services;
 Underpinning economic growth and employment;
 Sustaining innovation and creation; and
 Promoting technological and cultural advances and expression.

Where suitable or sufficient intellectual property rights are not available, or are difficult to
enforce, innovators and innovative enterprises may need to rely to a greater extent on other
means to protect themselves from unfair competition, such as through trade secrets, contractual
agreements, or technical means of preventing copying. Such means can be less effective in
promoting the goals set out above.

How is intellectual property protected?

In general, intellectual property is protected by giving the creator of a work or an inventor

exclusive rights to commercially exploit his creation or invention for a limited period of time.
These rights can also be sold, licensed or otherwise disposed of by the rightsholder.

Intellectual property rights are granted under the national laws of each country or region. In
addition, various international agreements on intellectual property rights harmonize laws and
procedures, or allow intellectual property rights to be registered at the same time in several
countries. Different types of intellectual property - literary and artistic creations, inventions,
brand names, and designs, to name a few - are protected in different ways:

 Creations in the fields of literature and arts, such as books, paintings, music, films and records as
well as software, are generally protected through copyright or so-called related rights;
 Technological inventions are typically protected by patents;
 Distinctive features - such as words, symbols, smells, sounds, colours and shapes - that
distinguish one product or service from another, can be protected by trademark rights;
 The specific external appearance given to objects, such as furniture, car body parts, tableware or
jewellery, may enjoy design protection;
 Geographical indications and trade secrets are also considered to be types of intellectual
property and most countries provide some form of legal protection for them;
 Rules to prevent unfair competition in the commercial world also help protect trade secrets and
other types of intellectual property;
 Plant varieties are protected mainly by a specific IP protection regime called plant variety rights,
and may also be protected by patents or by a combination of the two systems; and
 Specific legal protection is provided in some countries for integrated circuits and databases.

The same product can also be simultaneously protected by more than one type of intellectual
property right in different countries.

Skip to the relevant section:

Copyrights

Patents

Trademarks

Trade secrets.

Copyright

Copyright exists to encourage the production of original artistic, literary and musical creations
from books and paintings to movies, recordings and software. The copyright system rewards
artistic expression by allowing the creator to benefit commercially from his work. In addition to
granting economic rights, copyright also bestows “moral” rights which allow the creator to claim
authorship
and prevent mutilation or deformation of his work that might harm his reputation.

To qualify for copyright protection, the work has to be an original creation and expressed in a
certain fixed form. Copyright is automatically vested in the author once the work is created,
though a few countries maintain registration systems which provide additional benefits. It can
then be licensed or assigned, often to a publisher or a producer. Copyright protection gives an
author exclusive rights of a certain duration, generally from the time of creation of the work until
fifty or seventy years after the author’s death.
Copyright law allows the copyright holder to control certain uses of his work. These uses, which
the author can authorize or prohibit, typically include reproducing, distributing, renting,
recording, communication to the public, broadcasting, and translating or adapting the work. In
some countries, the author does not have the right to prevent certain uses of works but still has a
right to be remunerated for its use. In every country, exceptions exist that allow the public to
make certain uses of works without either remunerating or obtaining the authorization of the
author. An example of this could be the use of limited quotations for illustration or teaching. The
protections afforded to the copyright holder as well as limitations and exceptions provided under
copyright law are an essential part of copyright frameworks. Striking the right balance, together
they facilitate the creation of artistic works as well as new means to distribute and enjoy artistic
works.

Most countries provide similar protection for phonogram producers, performers and
broadcasters.

In some countries, performers, producers and broadcasters of copyrighted works are protected by
copyright just like authors; in other countries, they are instead protected by neighbouring or
related rights. Copyright has become increasingly important with the development of digital
technology and the Internet, where it is a major form of intellectual property protection for
content distributed online, and where it faces difficult enforcement issues.

Several international agreements on copyright protection and related rights exist. These include
the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works (1886), the Rome
Convention for the Protection of Performers, Producers of Phonograms, and Broadcasting
Organizations (1961), the Geneva Convention for the Protection of Producers of Phonograms
against Unauthorized Duplication of their Phonograms (1971), the WIPO Copyright Treaty
(1996), and the WIPO Performances and Phonograms Treaty (1996). The latter two address the
protection of authors’ rights in the digital world. The World Trade Organization (WTO)
Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) (1994) is the first
multilateral trade-related intellectual property agreement. It covers most types of intellectual
property and includes copyright and related rights...

Patents

A patent gives the inventor the right, for a specified period of time, to prevent others from using,
making, selling, offering for sale, or importing his invention without his authorization. In return,
the inventor must disclose the details of his invention in a patent document that is made publicly
available. In this way, patents represent a social contract between society as a whole and
inventors.

An innovation which the inventor prefers to keep secret is known as know-how or a trade secret.

These are protected under different rules.

In most countries, patent protection lasts for 20 years counted from the filing date and is issued
by national or regional government patent offices, to which the inventor has to submit an
application.

In order to be granted the patent, the invention must fulfil three conditions:

 It must be new – it should never have been published or publicly used before;
 It should be capable of industrial application – it must be something that can be industrially
manufactured or used; and
 It must be “non-obvious” – it should not be an invention that would have occurred to any skilled
person in the relevant field.
 Patent systems have been adopted by many countries over the years because:
 They encourage the disclosure of information to the public, increasing the public’s access to
technical and scientific knowledge. Without the assurance of a patent, an individual or
corporate inventor may choose to keep the details of an invention secret;
 They provide an incentive and reward for innovation and investment in R&D and future
inventions;
 The limited duration of a patent encourages the rapid commercialization of inventions, so that
the public receives a tangible benefit from the invention sooner rather than later;
 By encouraging the publication of details of inventions, patents help avoid duplication of
research and stimulate further research, innovation and competition; and
 Patents are perceived as a sound intellectual property title, granted in most territories after a
rigorous examination process.

Several international agreements on patent protection exist. For substantive issues, the most
important are the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1883) and the WTO
Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) (1994), while the
main patent treaties for procedural issues are the Patent Cooperation Treaty (1970) and the Patent
Law Treaty (2000). The European Patent Convention (1973) sets out rules for obtaining
European Patents which, when granted, split up into national patents in the designated countries.
A revised version of the Convention (EPC 2000) and Implementation Regulations came into
force on 13 December 2007...

Trademarks

Trademarks allow consumers and businesses to differentiate between goods and services from
different producers, and to select products by manufacturers whose reputation they trust.

For manufacturers or service providers who have invested the time, effort and money to build up
a good brand image, trademarks are a way to prevent others from unfairly taking advantage of
their reputation. This ensures fair competition between competitors in the marketplace and
encourages producers to invest in the quality and reputation of their products or services.

Trademark protection can apply to brands, names, signs, symbols, and even colours, smells,
sounds and shapes. In short, almost any distinctive feature attached to a product or service which
distinguishes it from another can be protected as a trademark.
In most countries, a trademark has to be registered in a national or regional government
trademark office for use with specific goods or services to be protected. A trademark holder can
prevent others from using his trademark or a similar mark for the same or similar goods or
services, if doing so is likely to cause confusion in the minds of the public. In many countries,
famous or well-known trademarks also enjoy protection against uses that are considered to
disparage, dilute or take unfair advantage of the reputation of the famous mark.

Almost all businesses, large and small, rely on trademarks. Trademark protection is used more
than any other form of intellectual property, and in developing as well as developed economies.
Trademarks serve to guarantee origin to local consumers, and readily searchable trademark
registers allow businesses to avoid selecting new marks which could be confused with existing
ones.

Several international agreements on trademark protection exist. For substantive issues, the most
important are the Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property (1883), the
Trademark Law Treaty (1994), and the TRIPS agreement (1994). The Singapore Treaty on the
Law of Trademarks was adopted on 28 March 2006. For procedural issues, the main treaties are
the Madrid Agreement concerning the International Registration of Marks (1891) and its
Protocol (1989), using French, English and Spanish as official languages, and the Nice
Agreement concerning the International Classification of Goods and Services for the Purpose of
Registration of Marks (1957). In Europe, Regulation no 207/09 of 26 February 2009 which
codifies the previous regulation 40/94 on the Community Trade Mark (CTM) allows a trademark
holder to obtain a single trademark registration covering the 27 European Union Member States.
The link made on 1 October 2004 between the CTM and the Madrid Protocol provides trademark
owners with greater flexibility for obtaining international trademark protection. Further to the
study carried in 2010 on the overall trademark system in the EU, it is likely that amendments will
be proposed to the current CTM Regulation...

Designs

Design rights protect new and original visual aspects of a product or its packaging. Requirements
for protection typically borrow concepts from both patent law (novelty) and copyright law
(originality).

The design eligible for protection must display aesthetic features and must not be predated by a
known overall identical or similar design. Designs can be expressed in two-dimensional
(drawing) or three-dimensional (model) formats. Designs contribute significantly to the
marketability of goods and are crucial assets in several industries, for instance textiles, fashion,
mobile consumer devices, computer software (interfaces), automobiles and furnishing and
decoration.

The regime for design protection differs from one country to another, although harmonization
has been achieved within the European Union, with Regulation No 6/2002 providing a
Community design right effective in all 27 EU Member States. In most countries, design
protection is subject to registration, although there is a trend to extend protection for a short term
to unregistered designs, e.g. for 3 years in the EU. Registered designs can generally benefit from
protection for 25 years.

The owner of a protected design may prohibit the making, selling, importing or exporting of
products incorporating or applying the design. Depending on the countries, the owner may
concurrently avail himself of the protection of copyright, trademark, and patent law. Design
protection is an area which has benefited lately from significant and promising harmonization.
The Hague Agreement (1925) concerning the international deposit of industrial designs, as
amended by the WIPO Geneva Act (1999) allows centralized design application filing for
protection in the various countries party to the Agreement (which includes the EU). The most
recent regulations came into effect on 1 April 2010. For procedural issues, the classification of
goods is governed by the Locarno Agreement (1968)...

Trade secrets

Trade secrets encompass various types of business information, whether technical, commercial
or financial, which is not known or readily ascertainable by the relevant public and which gives a
business a competitive edge (for instance, manufacturing processes, techniques and know-how,
customers’ lists and profiles, distribution methods, financial information, ingredients, etc.). In
general, information is eligible for trade secret protection if it is identified, substantial and secret,
as reflected in Article 39 of TRIPS.

Trade secret protection is afforded without registration and can last without limitation in time,
generally so long as confidentiality is maintained. When the trade secret is patentable know-how,
the scope of legal protection respectively granted by patent law and trade secret status has to be
carefully compared before deciding whether to patent the invention or to keep it secret. This
decision will also depend on the kind of know-how involved, its contemplated use, the term of
the expected competitive lead and the capability to ensure secrecy in the long run. A distinctive
feature of a trade secret is the impossibility of erasing or overriding the effective transfer of
knowledge once disclosed. This is why, when transferring a trade secret, its holder usually pays
great attention to confidentiality provisions and to the efficiency of interim court injunctions that
can be obtained locally to prevent unauthorized dissemination.

Businesses, having become more aware of the value of trade secrets, confidentiality and non-
disclosure agreements, and non-compete agreements in employment contracts, now use them
widely in the course of business dealings as well as in the context of employment relationships in
an attempt to limit unwanted leaks and uses of valuable business information. However, trade
secret protection remains weak in many countries, due partly to the lack of specific protective
legislation and partly to the lack of awareness by the judiciary and other administrative bodies.
Sanctions against procurement, use or disclosure of a trade secret, through application of the
laws on unfair competition or practices – a branch of tort law – are also provided by Article 39 of
TRIPS. Violation of a confidentiality undertaking can also be treated as a breach of contract. In
limited cases, misappropriation of trade secrets can be a criminal offence such as theft or
business espionage.
Communication of know-how as such, or as part of mixed patent and know-how licence
agreements, is a well-known way of exploiting trade secrets of a technical nature, which are now
less hindered by national restrictions affecting cross-border transfer of know-how.

4. What is Intellectual Property?

Intellectual property is the area of law that deals with protecting the rights of those who create
original works. It covers everything from original plays and novels to inventions and company
identification marks. The purpose of intellectual property laws are to encourage new
technologies, artistic expressions and inventions while promoting economic growth. When
individuals know that their creative work will be protected and that they can benefit from their
labor, they are more likely to continue to produce things that create jobs, develop new
technology, make processes more efficient, and create beauty in the world around us.

There are three main mechanisms for protecting intellectual property in the United States:
copyrights, patents and trademarks.

Copyrights

Copyrights protect the expressive arts. They give owners exclusive rights to reproduce their
work, publicly display or perform their work, and create derivative works. Additionally, owners
are given economic rights to financially benefit from their work and prohibit others from doing
so without their permission. It is important to realize that copyrights do not protect ideas, only
how they're expressed.

Patents

Patents protect an invention from being made, sold or used by others for a certain period of time.
There are three different types of patents in the United States:

 Utility Patents - these patents protect inventions that have a specific function, including things
like chemicals, machines, and technology.
 Design Patents - these patents protect the unique way a manufactured object appears.
 Plant Patents - these patents protect plant varieties that are asexually reproduced, including
hybrids.

Inventors may not assume that their creation is patented unless they apply and are approved for a
patent by the US Patent and Trademark Office. This process can be complex and time
consuming. It is a good idea to hire an intellectual property attorney to make sure you file the
appropriate paperwork and get the patent you need to protect your invention and make it
profitable.

Trademarks

Trademarks protect the names and identifying marks of products and companies. The purpose of
trademarks is to make it easy for consumers to distinguish competitors from each other.
Trademarks are automatically assumed once a business begins using a certain mark to identify its
company, and may use the symbol TM without filing their symbol or name with the government.

There are strict laws in place to protect intellectual property rights. When intellectual property
rights are violated, it is important to hire an intellectual property lawyer. An experienced attorney
can help you sue for damages that include lost royalties. If your case is successful, the person
who violated your intellectual property rights may be required to pay for all of your legal fees in
addition to compensating you for using your work without your permission.

What is Intellectual Property?

Intellectual property (IP) refers to creations of the mind, such as inventions; literary and artistic
works; designs; and symbols, names and images used in commerce.

IP is protected in law by, for example, patents, copyright and trademarks, which enable people to
earn recognition or financial benefit from what they invent or create. By striking the right
balance between the interests of innovators and the wider public interest, the IP system aims to
foster an environment in which creativity and innovation can flourish.

4.Types of intellectual property

Copyright

Copyright is a legal term used to describe the rights that creators have over their literary and
artistic works. Works covered by copyright range from books, music, paintings, sculpture and
films, to computer programs, databases, advertisements, maps and technical drawings.

Patents

A patent is an exclusive right granted for an invention. Generally speaking, a patent provides the
patent owner with the right to decide how - or whether - the invention can be used by others. In
exchange for this right, the patent owner makes technical information about the invention
publicly available in the published patent document.

Trademarks

A trademark is a sign capable of distinguishing the goods or services of one enterprise from
those of other enterprises. Trademarks date back to ancient times when craftsmen used to put
their signature or "mark" on their products.

Industrial designs
An industrial design constitutes the ornamental or aesthetic aspect of an article. A design may
consist of three-dimensional features, such as the shape or surface of an article, or of two-
dimensional features, such as patterns, lines or color.

Geographical indications

Geographical indications and appellations of origin are signs used on goods that have a specific
geographical origin and possess qualities, a reputation or characteristics that are essentially
attributable to that place of origin. Most commonly, a geographical indication includes the name
of the place of origin of the goods.

6.Innovations and inventions of trade related Intellectual

property rights:
 Property rights are a social institution, not a natural phenomenon.
 Intellectual property is an invention of the knowledge-based economy.
 Both free traders and protectionists in the US agree on the need to protect
US intellectual property (IP) rights globally in general and in China
especially.
 The Uruguay Round in 1986 produced the WTO Trade Related Aspects of
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement.
 Trademarks:

 A trademark is a recognizable sign, design or expression which

distinguishes products or services of a particular trader from the similar
products or services of other traders.
 Trade dress:

 Trade dress is a legal term of art that generally refers to characteristics of

the visual appearance of a product or its packaging (or even the design of a
building) that signify the source of the product to consumers.
 Trade secrets :

 A trade secret is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern,

or compilation of information which is not generally known or reasonably
ascertainable, by which a business can obtain an economic advantage over
competitors or customers. In the United States, trade secret law is primarily
 handled at the state level under the Uniform Trade Secrets Act, which most
states have adopted, and a federal law, the Economic Espionage Act of
1996 (18 U.S.C. §§ 1831–1839), which makes the theft or misappropriation
of a trade secret a federal crime. This law contains two provisions
criminalizing two sorts of activity. The first, 18 U.S.C. § 1831(a), criminalizes
the theft of trade secrets to benefit foreign powers. The second, 18
U.S.C. § 1832, criminalizes their theft for commercial or economic
purposes. (The statutory penalties are different for the two offenses.) Trade
secret law varies from country to country.
 The Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property
Rights (TRIPS) is an international agreement administered by the World
Trade Organization (WTO) that sets down minimum standards for many
forms of intellectual property (IP) regulation as applied to nationals of
other WTO Members.[3] It was negotiated at the end of the Uruguay
Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in 1994.

Infringement

Infringement refers to the violation of a law or a right.

Infringement may refer to:

 Infringement procedure, a European Court of Justice procedure to determine whether a

Member State has fulfilled its obligations under Union law
 Intellectual property infringement, violating an owner's exclusive rights to intangible assets such
as musical, literary, or artistic works
o Copyright infringement, the use of works under copyright, including reproducing,
distributing, displaying, or performing the copyrighted work without permission
o Patent infringement, using or selling a patented invention without permission from the
patent holder, typically for commercial purposes
o Trademark infringement, a violation of the exclusive rights attaching to a trademark
without the authorization of the trademark owner or licensees
 Secondary infringement, when a party contributes to or is responsible for infringing acts carried
out by another party
 Summary offence or infraction, a crime that can be proceeded against without a jury trial and/or
indictment in some jurisdictions
Patent infringement

Patent infringement is the commission of a prohibited act with respect to a patented invention
without permission from the patent holder. Permission may typically be granted in the form of a
license. The definition of patent infringement may vary by jurisdiction, but it typically includes
using or selling the patented invention. In many countries, a use is required to be commercial (or
to have a commercial purpose) to constitute patent infringement.[citation needed]

The scope of the patented invention or the extent of protection[1] is defined in the claims of the
granted patent. In other words, the terms of the claims inform the public of what is not allowed
without the permission of the patent holder.

Patents are territorial, and infringement is only possible in a country where a patent is in force.
For example, if a patent is granted in the United States, then anyone in the United States is
prohibited from making, using, selling or importing the patented item, while people in other
countries may be free to exploit the patented invention in their country. The scope of protection
may vary from country to country, because the patent is examined -or in some countries not
substantively examined- by the patent office in each country or region and may be subject to
different patentability requirements.

Typically, a party (other than the patentee or licensee of the patentee) that manufactures, imports,
uses, sells, or offers for sale patented technology without permission/license from the patentee,
during the term of the patent and within the country that issued the patent, is considered to
infringe the patent.[2]

The test varies from country to country, but in general it requires that the infringing party's
product (or method, service, and so on) falls within one or more of the claims of the patent. The
process employed involves "reading" a claim onto the technology of interest. If all of the claim's
elements are found in the technology, the claim is said to "read on" the technology; if a single
element from the claim is missing from the technology, the claim does not literally read on the
technology and the technology generally does not infringe the patent with respect to that claim,
except if the doctrine of equivalence is considered applicable.

In response to allegations of infringement, an accused infringing party typically asserts one or

more of the following:

 that it was not practicing the patented invention, i.e. the invention claimed in the patent
(the claims define the extent of protection conferred by a patent);
 that it was not performing any infringing act in the territory covered by the patent
(patents are indeed territorial in nature);
 that the patent has expired (since patents have a limited patent term, i.e. a limited
lifetime);
 that the patent (or the particular claim(s) alleged to be infringed) is invalid, because the
invention in question does not meet the patentability requirements or includes a formal
defect, this rendering the patent invalid or unenforceable;
 that it has obtained a license under the patent.
The parties may also resolve their dispute in a settlement, which may involve a licensing
agreement, such as a cross-licensing agreement. Private settlements may not always serve the
public interest, "because litigating patent disputes to completion tends to generate positive
externalities, by clarifying the limits of patent protection if the patent is upheld or encouraging
wider use of the innovation if the patent is invalidated".[3]

Indirect infringement

In certain jurisdictions, there is a particular case of patent infringement called "indirect

infringement." Indirect infringement can occur, for instance, when a device is claimed in a patent
and a third party supplies a product which can only be reasonably used to make the claimed
device.[4]

An advertisement for copyright and patent preparation services from 1906, when copyright registration
formalities were still required in the US.

Copyright infringement is the use of works protected by copyright law without permission,
infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, such as the right to reproduce,
distribute, display or perform the protected work, or to make derivative works. The copyright
holder is typically the work's creator, or a publisher or other business to whom copyright has
been assigned. Copyright holders routinely invoke legal and technological measures to prevent
and penalize copyright infringement.

Copyright infringement disputes are usually resolved through direct negotiation, a notice and
take down process, or litigation in civil court. Egregious or large-scale commercial infringement,
especially when it involves counterfeiting, is sometimes prosecuted via the criminal justice
system. Shifting public expectations, advances in digital technology, and the increasing reach of
the Internet have led to such widespread, anonymous infringement that copyright-dependent
industries now focus less on pursuing individuals who seek and share copyright-protected
content online, and more on expanding copyright law to recognize and penalize—as "indirect"
infringers—the service providers and software distributors which are said to facilitate and
encourage individual acts of infringement by others.

Estimates of the actual economic impact of copyright infringement vary widely and depend on
many factors. Nevertheless, copyright holders, industry representatives, and legislators have long
characterized copyright infringement as piracy or theft—language which some U.S. courts now
regard as pejorative or otherwise contentious