Sun Tzu: You should choose carefully the ground on which you wish to fight
Just like the motorist asking directions from an Irish farmer, in copyright litigation the answer often is, "I would not start from here, if I were you."
Copyright court actions are to be avoided if possible as nothing is straightforward. You must prove that you own the copyright which can be a lot harder than it sounds. It involves getting assignments or licences from contributors.
Although this may appear to give some comfort to anyone being sued for copyright infringement, it also means that copyright lawyers can use up a lot of billable hours in producing detailed evidence for which defendants usually pay if they lose.
This is why you must try and rely on trademark law to protect your IP which means you must do three things:
Sell your product with a label, box or other packaging which bears your trademark. The infringer may copy your trademark too. Sometimes inadvertently e.g. photocopying a training manual or sometimes deliberately e.g. the infringer may need to duplicate the packaging to convince a buyer that it is genuine.
Therefore if possible, use a trademark to help protect your IP.
Of course without money you cannot launch a court action. In this instance it is even more important to create the impression that you will fight to the death to protect your copyright. If you can't fight it, get a big hat.
Extract from "The Art of War, Peace & Palaver: The Contentious Guide to Legal Disputes"
© Paul Brennan 2018 All rights Reserved.
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