Movie Prop Sites, LLC strongly believes in the value of intellectual property and importance of protecting it. One of the ways that we help intellectual property owners is to comply in all respects with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). We respect the rights of copyright owners and we ask that you do the same.
WHAT IS COPYRIGHT?
We strongly encourage our users and members to familiarize themselves with copyright law before creating and uploading materials to the Service. We offer the following links to copyright law resources for informational purposes:
- U.S. Copyright Office – Copyright FAQs
- Stanford University Library – Copyright FAQs
- The Publishing Law Center – Copyright FAQs
- Chilling Effects Clearinghouse – Copyright FAQs
- Nolo – Copyright Law
WHAT DOES COPYRIGHT PROTECT?
Copyright protects original works of creative expression that have been fixed in a tangible medium. This means that the expression must be independently created by the author and exist in a physical form for some duration of time. Just about any form of expression is protected, from poetry, paintings, recorded music and sculptures to video games, software code, choreography and architectural designs. Keep in mind, however, that copyright only applies to creative expressions, and does not protect the ideas or facts upon which the expression is based.
WHAT HAPPENS IF I UPLOAD MATERIALS WITHOUT THE RIGHT TO DO SO?
First of all, your account can be terminated and you can be subject to a lawsuit from the copyright owner. Only the owner of a copyright or someone expressly authorized to make use of a work can exploit the right granted by the Copyright Act. If you’re not the creator of a work and don’t have authorization from the creator to make use of it, it’s likely that your use of the work is not authorized, and that means that you can’t upload it to our Service. If we receive a DMCA Notice that material you uploaded to our Service was posted without authorization, we will take the content down and notify you. If it happens on a repeated basis, we’ll be forced to ban your account. We do not wish to do this, so we hope that you will refrain from posting any content to the Service that you do not own or have authorization to post.
ISN’T THERE A DOCTRINE CALLED “FAIR USE”?
Yes. The Fair Use doctrine is a limited defense to a claim of copyright infringement that is based on the premise that the public is entitled to make certain socially beneficial uses of copyrighted works, such as for education, commentary or criticism. However, there are no set rules about what this fair use is, so it is very challenging to determine whether a use is “fair” in advance. Unfortunately, this means that many disputes over which uses are fair ones will end up in court, and if it turns out your guess is wrong, you will be liable for potentially significant damages. Please consult the following resources to learn more:
- U.S. Copyright Office – Fair Use
- The Electronic Frontier Foundation – Blogger’s FAQ
- Chilling Effects Clearinghouse – Copyright and Fair Use
- Stanford University Libraries – Copyright & Fair Use
WE ARE NOT YOUR LAWYER AND NOTHING CONTAINED HERE IS LEGAL ADVICE OF ANY KIND. WE HAVE PROVIDED THIS COPYRIGHT FAQ FOR YOUR BASIC INFORMATION ONLY AND IT DOES NOT COVER IMPORTANT ISSUES THAT AFFECT YOUR USE OF CONTENT. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, YOU SHOULD SEEK YOUR OWN LEGAL COUNSEL.