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Suing for copyright infringement does not make you a troll

On Behalf of | Jun 21, 2019 | Intellectual Property

In the intellectual property world, you may feel that the only way you can protect your rights is through litigation. However, some entities and individuals try to place a negative cast on those who take others to court over images, words, music and other forms of IP. At Wang IP Law Group, P.C., we understand that copyright trolls can create havoc using the legal system, but that should not keep creative people from protecting their rights. 

According to Plagiarism Today, a copyright troll is not the one who created the work and does not have a significant financial interest in the legal distribution of the work. Rather, this person is trying to make a profit by aggressively filing lawsuits or threatening lawsuits against many infringers at once.

As an artist, you are likely not seeking to make a profit from the litigation, but from the work itself.

Or, perhaps your goal is not to make a profit from the work itself but rather to penalize a large number of people and/or entities that used your work illegally and to prevent them from using it in the future. Whatever your goals are, you are within your rights to use copyright infringement litigation in this way. 

Copyright litigation must be filed in federal court, and it can be a time-consuming process. However, a successful claim may result in a large award that also covers attorney fees and court costs. Alternative dispute resolution and settlements may be options, as well, and these may shorten the process considerably. For more information about our experience with domestic and international copyright litigation and protection, please visit our webpage.