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Just Notified of Copyright Infringement!!!

post #1 of 29
3/7/12 at 2:41pm
Thread Starter 
Just to let people know that it's not a joke.... I was just notified by my internet provider that I have been reported as committing Copyright Infringement from my IP address. I went and deleted my character cakes out of my gallery but there is one I need CC to delete for me because the number of favorites. It may not be my cakes and it may be something my 16 year old son downloaded, but I'm not taking any chances, I personally can't afford a huge fine and would rather not go to jail, don't know 'bout the rest of y'all!!!

"Making your special day, a whole lot sweeter!"

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post #2 of 29
3/7/12 at 2:47pm
Do you have character cakes posted anywhere other than on CC?
Fall down 7 times....get up 8
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post #3 of 29
3/7/12 at 2:51pm
Thread Starter 
I had them on my facebook page but I deleted them as well.

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post #4 of 29
3/7/12 at 3:15pm
Copyright infringement from your service provider is something that was downloaded to your system whether music, games ect. It is not your pics of your cakes
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post #5 of 29
3/7/12 at 3:23pm
Thread Starter 
That may be the case but I would rather be safe than sorry. It's not worth risking my business over.

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post #6 of 29
6/2/12 at 12:12pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by kisamarie

I personally can't afford a huge fine and would rather not go to jail, don't know 'bout the rest of y'all!!!



It's more of a civil (monetary) matter than criminal, they are not going to put you in jail for something like this.
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post #7 of 29
6/2/12 at 2:30pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by SoFloGuy

Quote:
Originally Posted by kisamarie

I personally can't afford a huge fine and would rather not go to jail, don't know 'bout the rest of y'all!!!



It's more of a civil (monetary) matter than criminal, they are not going to put you in jail for something like this.


Copyright infringement can be a criminal offense if certain criteria are met (for example, if the infringement is for profit).

http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html#506
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post #8 of 29
6/2/12 at 2:52pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by jason_kraft

Quote:
Originally Posted by SoFloGuy

Quote:
Originally Posted by kisamarie

I personally can't afford a huge fine and would rather not go to jail, don't know 'bout the rest of y'all!!!



It's more of a civil (monetary) matter than criminal, they are not going to put you in jail for something like this.


Copyright infringement can be a criminal offense if certain criteria are met (for example, if the infringement is for profit).

http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html#506



No home baker is in jail for putting a character on a cake and then selling it. No prosecutor is going to ask for jail time for a "crime" like this. Disney is not going to waste money trying to prosecute you and making themselves look bad in the meantime.
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post #9 of 29
6/2/12 at 3:00pm
I'm simply quoting the law, which does state that copyright infringement can be a criminal offense. These types of cases rarely see the inside of a courtroom as it is usually cheaper for both parties to settle out of court, but in particularly egregious cases jail time is a possibility.

I agree that a copyright owner pursuing a criminal case is not likely, but IMO it's better to just follow the law instead of hoping certain provisions of the law you're breaking won't be enforced in the future.

Also, the statute of limitations for criminal copyright infringement is five years and three years for civil, so if a copyright owner discovers infringement 4-5 years after the fact their only option would be a criminal case.
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post #10 of 29
6/2/12 at 3:05pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cashley

Copyright infringement from your service provider is something that was downloaded to your system whether music, games ect. It is not your pics of your cakes


Not necessarily. If a service provider maintains web space for its customers, and infringing pictures (of cakes or anything else) are posted to that web space, the copyright owner may contact the service provider which would take down the pictures and inform the customer of the infringement. In fact if the service provider does not do this they may lose liability protection under the DMCA Safe Harbor provisions.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Safe_harbor_%28law%29

Of course OP does have the right to find out from the service provider which items were infringing, so there's no need to guess.
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post #11 of 29
6/2/12 at 10:51pm
SoFlo, some of us actually look this information up before we post. I know this is an open forum, but rebuttals without merit will not get you a win on the debate team.

The law clearly states that a number of copies of 10 or more will change a civil violation into a federal crime. It is at the the discretion of the property holder and courts to persue it in federal criminal court. Coming on a forum and posting that it is ok will not only mislead people who are trying to make a decision for their business, but it will become a result of search engines, thus spreading incorrect information to a much wider audience than just CC. This is why I always suggest that people look up laws and safety issues themselves and use offiicial site. There is too much wrong information on the web passed off as truth.
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post #12 of 29
6/4/12 at 8:04am
Go to the Wilton website and download the info sheets on Disney character pans. They clearly show that Disney has licensed Wilton to create those images as pans, and that Wilton has licensed a factory to make those baking pans, for users to reproduce Disney characters in cake.

Now at the very bottom of the pan insert it says "for home use only" in fine print.

So Wilton should have a statement on their website explaining how commercial baking enterprises are to use these licensed pans...because Wilton also claims to sell to commercial establishments.

And Facebook should respond in writing to exactly WHAT on your page might be an infringement.

Finally, people should know that modern photocopiers store all the images, and the owner of each copier pays a per copy fee to copyright holders at the end of each year. Wilton could facilitate a similar arrangement (like a fee of $1 per commercial cake baked from their character pans) so that cottage bakers could be allowed to pursue their business in peace.
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post #13 of 29
6/4/12 at 8:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by BakingIrene

Finally, people should know that modern photocopiers store all the images, and the owner of each copier pays a per copy fee to copyright holders at the end of each year.


You're saying that everyone who owns a modern photocopier looks at every single copy made during the entire year, identifies the copyright owner of the scanned image, and contacts each copyright owner to pay a license fee? What's your source on that?
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post #14 of 29
6/4/12 at 8:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SoFloGuy

Quote:
Originally Posted by kisamarie

I personally can't afford a huge fine and would rather not go to jail, don't know 'bout the rest of y'all!!!



It's more of a civil (monetary) matter than criminal, they are not going to put you in jail for something like this.



Jail is not the issue here - - how many of us could afford several hundreds of thousands of dollars in fines? And yes, that can happen.
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post #15 of 29
6/4/12 at 8:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by jason_kraft



Of course OP does have the right to find out from the service provider which items were infringing, so there's no need to guess.



That's a great suggestion. Especially in case someone else in your household is using your computer to download movies or music online that you don't know about. Actually it may not be your computer if they have a smart phone or other device like a tablet that connects to your wireless wifi it could be something that they are downloading with that.
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