What is infringement (of copyright)? Simple Definition & Meaning

Definition of infringement (of copyright)

An infringement refers to the act of unlawfully copying material that is protected under intellectual property law. This means that someone has used someone else's work without permission. It is an act that interferes with the right of intellectual property ownership.

For example, if someone copies a song or a movie without permission from the owner, they are committing copyright infringement.

In a copyright infringement matter, the plaintiff (the person who owns the copyright) would need to establish:

Valid copyright ownership
The copying of elements of the original copyrighted work

A copyright owner has the following rights:

To reproduce the work
To prepare derivative works based on the original work
To distribute copies of the copyrighted work
To perform certain copyright works in public
To demonstrate certain copyrighted works in public
To perform the copyrighted work for sound recordings
To import copies into the United States

In order to bring a copyright infringement claim, the plaintiff must prove that they hold the copyright interest through creation, assignment, or license. The plaintiff must also plead that the complaint is of an unlawful copy of the original element of the copyrighted work. To constitute an infringement, the derivative work must be based upon the copyrighted work. Although the Copyright Act does not provide an explicit definition of infringement, it is understood that unauthorized usage of the copyrighted material is inconsistent with the exclusive enumerated rights. This constitutes copyright infringement under federal law.

For example, if someone creates a painting that is based on a photograph that they found online without permission from the photographer, they are committing copyright infringement.

Simple Definition

Term:Infringement (of copyright)

Definition: Infringement means copying someone else's work without permission. It's like taking something that belongs to someone else without asking. When someone creates something, like a book or a song, they have the right to say who can use it. If someone else copies their work without permission, that's called infringement. To prove infringement, the person who created the work needs to show that they own it and that someone else copied it without permission. They also need to show that the copy is based on the original work. This is against the law and can get people in trouble.

Legal Definitions - infringement (of copyright)

Definition of infringement (of copyright)

Simple Definition