If you have been accused of copyright infringement, you may now have to deal with the headache of undergoing civil court proceedings. However, depending on the specifics of this allegation, you may have bigger troubles to deal with. That is, in a worst-case scenario, your alleged conduct may raise red flags for the federal government, and subsequently, they may investigate you for a crime. With that said, please continue reading to learn when copyright infringement may be handled as a civil issue versus a federal crime and how an experienced New Jersey copyright lawyer at The Ingber Law Firm can help you get out of legal trouble in either capacity.
When is copyright infringement a civil matter versus a crime?
Most commonly, copyright infringement cases are prompted by a copyright owner filing a civil lawsuit. Here, the rights holder has a duty to present a “preponderance of evidence” that you violated one of their exclusive rights. Specifically, that you reproduced, distributed, publicly performed, or displayed their protected work without their explicit permission.
However, on rarer occasions, the federal government may get involved and attempt to prosecute you for criminal copyright infringement. Here, they may be required to prove “beyond a reasonable doubt” that you willfully broke the law through your infringement activities. Furthermore, such activities may have been for commercial advantages or private financial gain.
For example, a civil lawsuit may suffice if you used a copyrighted photo for your website’s design without proper attribution, licensing, or authorization. However, this may escalate to a criminal level if this copyrighted photo is considered a piece of high-value work, and you wrongfully reproduce a large quantity of copies to sell and personally profit from.
What are the civil penalties versus criminal punishments of copyright infringement?
If you are the defendant in a civil copyright infringement case, your possible penalties may primarily be financial in nature. That is, you may have to compensate the copyright owner for their actual financial losses, while also paying the court’s ordered statutory damages, which may range from hundreds to thousands of dollars.
As for a criminal copyright infringement case, you may similarly be imposed with hefty fines. Namely, these fines may go up to $250,000 per felony offense you are found guilty of. The worst criminal punishment, though, is a potential prison sentence of up to five years. And if this is a subsequent offense, or if it was considered an organized crime, it may be upgraded to 10 years.
There is no shame in asking for help, especially when you are dealing with something as serious as a legal matter that could affect your physical, emotional, and financial well-being. So please retain legal assistance from a skilled Essex County, New Jersey intellectual property lawyer from The Ingber Law Firm. We will happily lend a hand.