In this quick information age, you can get a needed photo, song or pattern for your retail business in a few seconds. Unfortunately, by quickly "copying" and "pasting", your business may find itself easily caught up in difficult and expensive disputes with copyright owners.

This article mainly discuss about the risk of infringement, and some steps to help you deal with infringement of product.

As a bathroom toilet seat retailer, how should we deal with the art infringement?

Tip 1: Proof of non-infringement

(1) It is necessary to judge if your goods use other people's copyright, such as pattern, cartoon images, etc.. Generally speaking, without authorization, will be suspected of infringement. For example, Mickey Mouse products in Disneyland and Mickey Mouse products sold in the wholesale market, most of the general wholesale markets are infringing products.

(2) Art works design infringement needs to achieve the same or substantial similarity, but does not mean that the re-creation of other people's works will not infringe, unless your re-creation simply can not see the traces of the original work.

Therefore, If you want to use existing content created by someone else, you should obtain permission, preferably in writing. A written license (also known as a license) should specifically identify what to use, how, and when it will be used.

If you pay an external contractor for photos, draft text, design graphics, or create other materials, it is important to enforce the "Hire Work" agreement or other copyright documents in those materials. Without such an agreement, the contractor is likely to own the copyright to your material, even if you pay the contractor for the work. If you are sure that there is no distribution agreement, contact the contractor and ask them to perform one. Otherwise, the contractor is free to sell or license the work to other parties, including competing company.

Tip 2: Proof of legal origin

If Step1 is not satisfied, you can try to prove that the product has a legitimate source.

Need to provide with the supplier's purchase and sale contracts, purchase list, etc. , of course, these contracts, lists need to be related to the products involved, such as specific names, models.

Tip 3: Pay special attention to the photos.

Photo licensing companies use a range of software tools to scan the Internet to identify unauthorized use of images in their libraries. If unauthorized use is found, licensed companies typically send threatening letters, including licensing fees and penalties. In many cases, the only option is to pay the full amount required. Image licenses are relatively inexpensive and easy to secure from plug-ins such as AP Images and Getty Images. In addition, there are many "public domain" (license-free) image libraries available online.

Of course, if you're not sure if you're allowed to use the content or have other questions about copyright , consult an intellectual property lawyer is the best choice.