Meg MawL 

© Copyright 1997 - 2002 by Meg MawL. All rights reserved worldwide. All materials such as titles, writings, descriptions, grading system, webpage design, works of art, captions, and photographs are subject to copyright protection and may not be copied by others without the permission of the creator or copyright owner.  The entire contents of this Web site is protected copyright.  Please be advised that we will pursue, in court, every instance of material stolen from this website.

A Brief Summary of Current Copyright Laws

• In some cases, copyright violation can result in a felony conviction.


• These days, almost all things are copyrighted the moment they are written, and no copyright notice is required.


• Copyright is still violated whether you charged money or not, only court damages are affected.


• Postings to the net are not granted to the public domain, and don't grant you any permission to do further copying except perhaps the sort of copying the poster might have expected in the ordinary flow of the net.


• Fair use is a complex doctrine meant to allow certain valuable social purposes. Ask yourself why you are republishing what you are posting and why you couldn't have just rewritten it in your own words.


• Copyright is not lost because you don't defend it; that's a concept from trademark law. The ownership of names is also from trademark law, so don't say somebody has a name copyrighted. Fan fiction and other work derived from copyrighted works is a copyright violation. Copyright law is mostly civil law where the special rights of criminal defendants you hear so much about don't apply. Watch out, however, as new laws are moving copyright violation into the criminal realm.


• Don't rationalize that you are helping the copyright holder; it's not that hard to ask permission.