Avoid Copyright Infringement in the Age of Social Media社交媒體時代防侵權指南

馬特·丹吉洛　何梓健/譯

Social media is an environment rich with opportunity for small businesses to connect with users， share content and convert customers. However， as the Internet and social media have advanced， hard rules on content ownership have taken a back seat to1 progress.

社交媒體機遇遍地，為小企業提供了與用戶建立聯系、分享內容并轉化客戶的平臺。然而，面對互聯網和社交媒體的發展，有關內容所有權的硬性規定卻已退居次位。

Today， small business owners must have a clear idea on copyright laws and image usage to protect themselves from online embarrassment or potentially expensive litigation. Once a user uploads a photo， for example， its automatically copyrighted， and copying and posting that image could expose your business to major legal risks.

如今，為了保護自己免于陷入網絡窘境或巨額訴訟，小企業主必須清楚了解著作權法和圖片使用規定。比方說，用戶一旦上傳一張照片，這張照片就自動受著作權保護，任何復制和發布這張照片的行為都可能給你的企業帶來重大法律風險。

“Copyright exists once you have an original work of authorship fixed in any tangible medium，” said Ruth Carter， an Internet attorney who is an authority on online copyright law involving blog posts， image usage and trademarks. That includes Twitter and Facebook.

互聯網律師露絲·卡特是博客文章、圖片使用和商標方面網絡著作權法的權威。她表示：“一旦你將自己的原創作品固定在某個有形媒介上，著作權就隨之而生。”所謂的有形媒介包括推特和臉書。

In fact， a New York federal judge ruled that news organizations that embedded tweets that contained an individuals picture of Tom Brady2 had violated the Copyright Act. The original photographer had originally posted the pic to Snapchat， where it went viral and was then uploaded to Twitter.

事實上，紐約一位聯邦法官就曾裁定好幾家新聞機構違反美國版權法，因為這幾家機構嵌入的推特內容包含一張湯姆·布雷迪的個人照片。起初，拍攝者把這張照片發布在Snapchat上，一度瘋傳，隨后這張照片被人上傳到推特。

Carter wrote a book on copyright law in blogging called The Legal Side of Blogging： How Not to Get Sued， Fired， Arrested， or Killed and said that businesses need to understand that copyright infringement is a form of theft.

卡特針對博客所涉及的著作權法撰寫了一本書，題為《博客法律面面觀：防官司、防被炒、防被捕、防丟命》。她表示企業要認識到侵犯著作權也是盜竊的一種形式。

“There is bad information out there that tells business owners， lawyers， people that they can use anything they find on the Internet as long as they give an attribution and a link back to the original，” she said. “Thats wrong.”

她說：“四處流傳的不實信息讓企業主、律師以及廣大老百姓以為只要標明出處、提供原始鏈接，即可隨意使用網上找到的任何內容。這種想法是錯誤的。”

What constitutes infringement

侵權行為構成要件

Ryan Vacca is a professor at the University of New Hampshire School of Law and a member of the schools Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectual Property. He said that the goal of copyright law is to protect original creative expression and that images easily fall under3 this protection.

瑞安·瓦卡是新罕布什爾大學法學院的教授，也是該學院富蘭克林·皮爾斯知識產權中心的成員。他指出，版權法是為了保護原創的創造性表達，而圖片無疑在保護范圍內。

“For most pieces of creative work， it easily satisfies the minimally creative standard if—assuming they didnt rip it off4 from somebody else—the original creator is going to have some copyright protection in that image，” he said.

他還表示：“大部分創造性作品，只要沒有剽竊他人，很容易達到創造性的最低標準，原作者的圖片就能受到一定的著作權保護。”

If you download an image and post it， whether it be on your site， in a blog post， or on social media， youre likely committing copyright infringement. Copying any images or user-generated content without the creators permission can constitute infringement， even if you link back to their website or original post.

無論是在自己的網站上、博客文章里，還是社交媒體上發布下載的圖片，你都有可能侵犯著作權。只要未經原作者允許，復制任何圖片或者用戶原創的內容都可能構成侵權，附上對方的網站地址或原始內容鏈接也無濟于事。

In addition to directly downloading and posting someones work， copyright infringement can occur when you take an image from another company， like image-hosting companies like Getty5. Some small business owners may assume that such a large company wont concern themselves with a minor offense， but this can be a reckless assumption. Getty has been known to send bills to sites that feature Gettys images but dont have a Getty subscription， for example.

除直接下載和發布他人作品外，從其他公司獲取圖片，比如Getty這樣的圖片存儲公司，也可能出現侵權行為。有些小企業主或許覺得這樣的大公司對一次小小的冒犯不以為意，這個想法未免輕率。據悉，Getty已向多家展示其圖片但未向其繳納服務費的網站發去賬單。

Copyright infringement and liability

侵權與擔責

The only person that can hold a business or individual accountable for copyright infringement is the original creator of the work. If， for example， you download or copy an image and the user doesnt notice， doesnt care or decides not to act， you dont have to worry. Relying on this is not a good practice， because either way youre exposed to a serious risk.

只有作品的原作者才能追究企業或個人侵犯著作權的責任。如果你下載或復制了一張圖，而用戶沒發覺、不在乎，或者決定不采取行動，那你就不必擔心。但一味靠這招并非正道，因為你橫豎都會面臨重大風險。

The maximum penalties for copyright infringement， if the original creator registers their work in a timely fashion with the copyright office， are $150，000 per work according to Vacca. This cost is in addition to legal and attorney fees.

據瓦卡說，如果原作者及時在版權局登記作品，那么侵犯著作權最高可按每件作品15萬美元的標準來罰款，這還不包括訴訟費和律師費。

The litigation process is expensive， and the original creator could elect for quicker， less expensive alternatives like sending a cease and desist letter6， sending a bill for their work， or using the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to send a takedown notice.

訴訟成本不菲，因此原作者可以選擇更快、更省錢的方法，比如寄送“勒令停止通知函”、作品使用費賬單，或者根據《數字千年版權法案》的規定寄送刪除通知。

Best practices and how to protect your business

企業保護最優解

Avoiding liability means being smart about how and what you post online. The best way to protect your business is to always ask permission to use the work from the original creator. Asking permission can be as straightforward as messaging the creator. However， experts advise having a formal agreement signed by both parties.

要想避免承擔法律責任，就要明智地選擇發布方式與內容。保護企業的最佳方式就是每次都向原作者征得使用作品的許可。征求方式可以是直接發信息給作者，但專家建議還是雙方簽署正式協議為好。

In addition to permission， if you want to use user-generated social media content， you can also embed original posts on your website or blog. This practice goes beyond linking and attributing by providing the actual original post.

如果你想使用用戶原創的社交媒體內容，除了征得許可，你也可以在個人網站或博客上嵌入原始內容。此舉提供了實際原貼，比只給鏈接和出處更好。

The best thing business owners can do is to take advantage of websites like CreativeCommons.org or Flickr7 to find free-to-use images where a license for commercial or editorial use is clearly established. By using these images， you ensure that your business is posting content legally.

企業主能采納的最優解就是利用知識共享組織網站或Flickr之類的圖片共享網站，尋找明確規定能商用或編輯、而且可免費使用的圖片。使用這些圖片即可確保企業合法發布內容。

Bottom line

謹守底線

The best way to protect your business is getting user permission before posting an image or finding a free-to-use image online. There are some other strategies to protect your business that involve editing images or attributing a fair-use8 defense despite copying and posting an image.

保護企業的最佳途徑是在發圖之前征得使用許可，或是在網上找到可以免費使用的圖片。其他的保護策略還包括編輯圖片，或者為復制、發布圖片的行為作合理使用辯護。

Both these aspects are hard to define on an industry-wide basis and will only come into play9 in specific instances. Copyright infringement is hard to boil down10 and apply to all cases—details of each case will dictate liability and how a business is at risk. The bottom line is， despite how easy it may be， copyright infringement is a form of theft.

這兩個策略很難在全行業范圍內得出明確標準，只能在某些特定情況下起效。侵犯著作權的行為難以概括并運用到所有案件——因為每個案件的細節將影響歸責以及企業遭受的風險高低。不管侵權有多容易，底線始終如一：侵犯著作權是盜竊的一種形式。

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）