When I speak
on copyright and plagiarism, two key questions typically arise: First, how much does someone have to copy to
be an infringer? Second, how much do I
risk if I copy someone else's work?The
answers are "not much" and "a lot."
Here's a tale
to illustrate the point.
THE METER DROPS
Wade B. Cook
is a former taxi cab driver in New York City.
He did not spend his time watching soaps on a portable TV plugged into
the cigarette lighter socket. Instead, he wrote. In 1995 he published Wall Street Money Machine.
It became a best seller.
Cook's book
included two distinctive concepts. Based
on his taxi-driving experience, he created an investment strategy called
"meter drop." He also wrote
about a concept he called "rolling stocks," which are stocks that
roll up and down in predictable waves.
Cook built a seminar business on his book and ideas.
Wall Street Money Machine attracted the attention of
motivational speaker Tony Robbins.
Robbins read the book, attended seminars, and spoke to Cook about his
ideas. They talked about joining forces
for a financial seminar, but nothing came up it.
Instead,
Robbins developed a new financial seminar on his own. His team put together a 52,000 word workbook,
over 300 pages long.
Robbins'
financial seminar generated $3.7 million in gross revenue. Experts later calculated his net profit to be
about $675,000.
THE PROBLEM
Robbins'
workbook contained short passages derived from Cook's materials. Here's a
side-by-side comparison:
|
Wall Street Money Machine Workbook
by Wade Cook
Money is
made on the Meter Drop. No one I
know has come up with a name for the type of investing I call "Rolling
Stocks." It works on stocks that roll up and down in repeated waves. . .
Some roll fast and some slow. Rule#1: You
have to know your exit before ever going in. Rule #2:
Don't get greedy.
|
Financial Power Workbook
by Anthony Robbins
The ring
toss/meter drop. The most
money is made on the _________. A rolling
stock is a stock that tends to consistently roll up to a specific price point
and then drop down to a specific price point in an obvious pattern (repeated
waves). Some of these companies roll
fast (4-6 weeks) and some roll slow (8-10 weeks).
Rule #1:
You have to know your ______ before going in.
Rule #2:
Don't get ____
|
The case went
to the jury to decide if these 74 words from Robbins' workbook infringed Cook's
copyright. Many who hear this tale are
surprised at the result. The jury found that
Robbins had copied Cook's work and awarded over $650,000 in damages.
You can do the math for yourself to figure out the cost of each word. Were it the going rate, I'm sure all writers would be delighted to be paid by the word.
While the
result may be extreme, this situation is not unusual. Think of how often some writers,
speakers and others "borrow" materials from another source. Many times there is
no reference to the author. Other times, they forget where the material
originated. Some even begin to believe the material is their own.
FAIR USE
So when can
you use another's work? How do you avoid
the fate of Anthony Robbins?
Not all
copying is infringement. Copyright only protects expression, not concepts or ideas. In addition, some instances
of copying are permitted as "fair use."
"Fair
use" is an exception to the exclusive rights of the copyright owner which
permits copying of protected expression for purposes such as commentary, news reporting and
education. Whether a particular use is
permitted depends on consideration of four factors:
1.
The
nature of the infringing work. Uses that
transform the original into something new are more likely to be
permitted. Non-commercial use is more
likely to be permitted than a commercial use.
2.
The
nature of the original work. Factual
works receive less protection than expressive works such as poems or songs.
3.
The
amount of the taking. The quality and
quantity of the taken are important.
Even a small taking may be an infringement if it is qualitatively
important and 'goes to the heart" of the original.
4.
The
effect on the market for the original.
An infringement is not likely to be permitted if it supplants market
demand for the original.
Determining
fair use in a particular case can be very difficult. Some examples of uses allowed as fair use
include:
>
A
hip-hop parody of Roy Orbison's song "Pretty Woman"
>
The
use of thumbnail copies of Grateful Dead posters in a history book about
popular music culture
>
A
portion of a photograph used in a collage by the artist Robert Rauschenberg
Uses that
were not permitted include:
>
George
Harrisson's song "My Sweet Lord" which was found to be too similar to
the song "He's So Fine"
>
A
parody about O.J. Simpson based on "The Cat in the Hat."
>
Video
clips of Elvis in a documentary
When in
doubt, the best course of action is to seek permission from the owner of the
original or a non-infringement opinion from a qualified attorney. That
way, you can avoid having the meter drop on your creation.
For more ideas on how copyright and fair use affects your business, visit www.GuidingRights.com
