Re: copyright fraud?

[Greg Grossmeier <grossmei@umich.edu>]

<quoting
name "klausgraf@googlemail.com"
date "2010-03-24"
time "17:40:27 -0400">

> Re. this site:
>
> http://site.ebrary.com/lib/disaster/help.action?topic=3Dterms_of_service
>
> It would be a good idea to think some seconds why claiming
> copyright and re-use restrictions on US government works which
> are in the PUBLIC DOMAIN is fraudulent.

I wondered that myself when I first came across that site.

And yes, according to the Copyright Act, making a fraudulant
claim of copyright is a finable offense. The hard part is proving
fraudulant intent. Full quote from the USC 17 sec. 506(c):

"Any person who, with fraudulent intent, places on any article a
notice of copyright or words of the same purport that such person
knows to be false, or who, with fraudulent intent, publicly
distributes or imports for public distribution any article
bearing such notice or words that such person knows to be false,
shall be fined not more than $2,500"

Of course, I think it is unbalanced that the fines for
fraudulantly claiming rights and ownership over something you do
not own is so much less than the the statutory damages brought
against an infringement (sharing a work, for instance).

Shameless plug: If you are interested in the topic of "copyfraud"
I wrote up an piece a while ago which is available at:
http://blog.grossmeier.net/2009/03/19/copyfraud/

Best,

Greg

Greg Grossmeier
Copyright Specialist
University of Michigan Library
http://lib.umich.edu/copyright
grossmei@umich.edu

Note: The usual disclaimer, these are my views and only my views. Same
with my personal blog.