Legal Advice on Copyright Laws
Copyright laws are very important to understand whether you are a writer, a professional or astudent. Anyone found violating copyright laws or infringing on another's work is subject to penalty. When a person writes a piece, the ownership belongs to the writer regardless of whether the work isa novel, article, or a technical description. Anyone copying or utilizing the work without thepermission of the owner is subject under law for prosecution. Thus, copyright laws don't mean thatyou must get a stamped copy of the work for it to be protected under law.
In other words, once you write an article, the work is yours and no one can use this piece withoutyour consent. The article is signed and sealed. Many authors of books will send their work to theLibrary of Congress, which takes about eight months to receive copyrights and the charge is around$30; however, even if you do not have the chance to do this, the piece of work still belongs to youlegally–and cannot be used without your permission.
Still, regardless of whether or not that piece of writing is sent to the Library of Congress, it is stillrightfully owned by the author and no one has the legal right to use this work without the author'spermission; otherwise, it is an infringement on the author's rights. Thus the best advice is do notcopy anyone's work, since you are subject to penalty for doing so. If you are writing an article orbook, you can ask permission from an author if you wish to add a statement, remark, comment orother part from the author's piece into your own work. If you are a student, learn APA and MLArules extensively to avoid dismissal from school and legal recourse. For more advice on CopyrightLaws try accessing the Library of Congress online.
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