copyright on social media

A copyright owner is the artist, writer, author, film maker, photographer, publisher or producer who makes music, movies, books, articles, photos, software or art.

We cannot use their material if we do not have permission. This is against the law. The copyright owner has to say it’s OK to put their work on blogs or social media. If they don’t like you using their work they can sue you in court for copyright infringement. This can cost a lot of money. Your posts can be removed and your account could be closed down. So don’t post somebody else’s photo or book or home movie and don’t try to sell pirated DVDs or software.

The Australian band, Men at Work, had problems with copyright. Their song, Land Down Under, used part of the song Kookaburra. The writer of Kookaburra died, so the copyright belonged to the publisher Larrikin music. Men at Work were sued in court. They had to pay a lot of money.