Copyright Compliance for Entrepreneurs
1. Recognizing Indirect Copyright Risks
Why entrepreneurs must pay attention
Direct infringement happens when you copy or distribute someone’s work without permission.
Indirect infringement (sometimes called secondary liability) occurs when your business enables, encourages, or benefits from someone else’s infringement — even if you didn’t do it yourself.
This matters especially for:
Real-world example:
If users upload copyrighted logos on your custom T-shirt platform and you print and sell them without checking licenses, your company could be held liable even though you didn’t create the designs.
2. Common Triggers for Indirect Liability
Behaviours that can lead to trouble
Here are frequent ways businesses unintentionally get involved in copyright violations:
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Reselling copied goods – shipping or listing products that use copyrighted images or music
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Providing copying tools – offering software or equipment designed mainly to duplicate content
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Promoting others’ copyrighted material to attract attention or customers
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Helping someone continue infringement after receiving warnings or takedown notices
Tip for startups:
Always verify ownership or licensing before publishing, printing, or selling third-party content.
3. Defensive Strategies for Your Business
Legal protections and safe practices
Even if your company is accused of copyright infringement, several defences and risk-reduction strategies exist.
Fair Use / Fair Dealing
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Allows limited use of works for criticism, research, education, news, or private study.
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Known as fair use in the US and fair dealing in countries like the UK, India, Canada, and Singapore.
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Must be proportionate, minimal, and justified by purpose.
Innocent Infringement
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If you can show you didn’t know and couldn’t reasonably know the content was protected, liability may be reduced.
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Keep evidence of where and how you obtained the material.
Licensing and Permissions
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Always obtain clear written licenses from rights holders for music, videos, software, images, and text.
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Store signed contracts and payment receipts.
Safe Harbour Protections
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Laws like the US DMCA or EU Digital Services Act protect platforms that remove infringing content promptly after receiving notices.
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This encourages proactive monitoring without punishing platforms for user uploads they weren’t aware of.
Example:
If a user posts unlicensed music on your app, and you delete it immediately after receiving a notice, you may avoid liability under safe harbour rules.
4. Region-Wide Relevance
Why this matters in Asia, EU, US, and beyond
Copyright rules vary slightly, but indirect liability is recognized globally.
To stay safe, entrepreneurs everywhere should:
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Implement content review policies
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Use user agreements that ban infringement
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Respond quickly to takedown notices
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Keep organized records of licenses and permissions
This protects your business from lawsuits and builds trust with customers and investors.
5. Using Legal Exceptions Responsibly
When using copyrighted content can be lawful
Sometimes, you can legally use parts of a copyrighted work without permission, if you meet strict conditions. These are known as statutory exceptions or fair dealing defences in many jurisdictions.
Research & Private Study
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Limited use for personal, non-commercial research or study.
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Must be done by the individual learner, not a company.
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Example: A student downloading an article to read later for a thesis (not to republish).
Criticism, Review & Quotation
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You can quote or show small parts of a work to comment, review, or debate it.
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Must give credit and use only what is necessary.
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Example: A business blog showing a short clip of an ad campaign while analyzing its marketing strategy.
Reporting Current Events
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Media companies may use short clips or images to report breaking news.
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Content must be incidental to the news, not used for entertainment or decoration.
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Example: Showing a brand’s logo that appears briefly in the background during a news report.
Parody, Satire & Pastiche
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You can reuse parts of a work for humorous or satirical purposes, as long as your version is recognizably different and clearly for parody.
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Example: A startup creating a funny meme mocking its own product while referencing a popular movie scene.
6. Other Specific Exceptions for Businesses
Less-known but useful defences
Temporary Copies
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Some countries allow temporary copies made by technology (e.g. caching or buffering online content).
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The copies must be automatic, essential for the process, and have no independent economic value.
Incidental Inclusion
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If a protected work appears by accident in the background of your photo, video, or broadcast, it may not be infringement.
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Example: A painting briefly visible behind a person in a product promo video.
Time-Shifting
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Recording a broadcast at home to watch or listen later is often allowed if it’s for personal use only, not resale or commercial distribution.
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Example: Saving a livestream webinar to review after work (for yourself, not for your team).
7. Public Interest Defence
When society’s right to know outweighs copyright
Rarely, courts may allow copyright use if disclosing the information is vital for the public (e.g. safety risks, corruption).
Example:
Publishing a confidential report that reveals a dangerous defect in a widely sold product could be justified as public interest.
8. Core Takeaways for Entrepreneurs
Build a copyright-safe business
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Indirect infringement can hurt your company even if you didn’t copy anything yourself.
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You are at risk if you enable, promote, or profit from others’ illegal use of content.
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Legal defences exist — but only if you act proactively and responsibly.
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Compliance builds credibility with partners, platforms, and investors worldwide
Non-Statutory Defences
(Defences created by courts, not written directly in copyright law)
Most copyright rules come from statutes. But in rare cases, courts have recognised special defences not mentioned in the law itself. These can protect a business that acted honestly and relied on the copyright owner’s behaviour.
When the Owner Allowed It (Acquiescence)
This defence applies when the copyright owner gave the impression that they would not enforce their rights, and you reasonably relied on that.
It requires some misleading behaviour or statement from the owner.
Just waiting a long time before suing is not enough to use this defence.
Business example
You run a clothing store and use a design created by a local artist. The artist sees it on your website, emails you saying “nice to see it in use” and never asks for payment or removal. Two years later they try to claim infringement. You might argue that they led you to believe you had permission.
The First-Sale Principle (Exhaustion of Rights)
This principle says that once a copyright owner sells a product legally in a region, their control over that physical copy ends in that region. This is called “exhaustion of rights.”
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It lets you resell or import legally purchased products inside that region (for example, inside the EU/EEA).
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But if the product was first sold outside your region, the copyright owner can stop you from importing or selling it there.
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The right to rent works (like software, games or DVDs) is not covered by exhaustion — you still need permission to rent them out.
Business example
You buy officially licensed software from a distributor in Germany and resell it in Italy — this is normally fine.
But buying the same software from a seller in another continent without the owner’s permission could be blocked.
Moral Rights — The Personal Side of Copyright
Copyright protects the economic value of creative work, but many legal systems also protect the personal connection between the creator and their work. These are called moral rights.
They exist in many countries, especially in Europe, and they apply to literary, artistic, musical, dramatic works and films.
Unlike copyright, moral rights stay with the author even if they sell their copyright.
Right to Be Named as the Author (Attribution)
Creators have the right to be credited as the author of their work when it’s used or published.
In some countries (like the UK), the creator must formally ask to be credited for this right to apply.
Business example
If you hire a designer to create your company’s logo, and they ask to be named as the creator, you must credit them on published materials. Ignoring this request could be considered a moral rights violation.
Right to Protect the Integrity of the Work
Creators can object if their work is changed in a way that damages their reputation or honour.
This covers distortion, alteration, or offensive modification of their work.
The test is objective: it’s not about the author’s feelings, but what a reasonable person would see as damaging.
Business example
You buy a song to use in an ad, but change its lyrics to something offensive or misleading. Even with a licence, the musician could argue their moral right of integrity has been violated.
Right to Prevent False Attribution
Creators have the right not to be falsely named as the author of something they didn’t create.
This also applies to falsely naming someone as the director of a film or video.
Business example
You launch a blog and put the name of a famous author on your articles to make them look more credible. That author could sue for false attribution, even if they didn’t lose money directly.
Right to Privacy in Commissioned Photos and Videos
If someone hires a creator to make private or family photos or films, the creator cannot publish or share them without permission.
This protects personal and family content from being used for marketing without consent.
Business example
A family hires your video company for a wedding. You can’t post the video online as part of your portfolio unless they give written permission.
Duration and Waiver of Moral Rights
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Moral rights usually last as long as copyright, which is typically the creator’s life plus 50–70 years.
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The right against false attribution often lasts for the creator’s life plus 20 years.
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Moral rights cannot be sold, but:
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they can pass to the creator’s heirs after death
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the creator can give up (waive) their moral rights
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the creator can consent to uses that would otherwise break their moral rights
This is why contracts with freelancers often include a moral rights waiver clause, especially for commercial projects.
Why This Matters for Entrepreneurs
If you use creative works in your business — logos, designs, music, software, writing, videos — you must respect the personal and legal rights of the creators.
Even if you legally buy or license a work, you could still break moral rights if you:
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fail to credit the author,
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change their work in a damaging way,
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claim they made something they didn’t,
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or share private commissioned work without permission.
And if you’re accused of copyright infringement, you may defend yourself in rare cases like acquiescence (the owner allowed it) or by showing exhaustion of rights (the copy was legally sold in your region).
Final MAACAT Tip
Whenever you work with designers, developers, writers, or artists:
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Sign a written agreement that clearly covers copyright ownership, crediting, moral rights waivers, and resale permissions.
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Always get explicit consent before changing or publishing their work.
This protects your business from legal risk and builds trust with your creative partners.
Q1: What situation could make a business indirectly liable for copyright infringement?
Allowing users to upload copyrighted designs on a T-shirt platform and selling them without checking licenses
Designing and uploading your own original artwork to sell on your platform
Selling only items that come with verified copyright licenses
Q2: How can an online business qualify for “Safe Harbour” protection under copyright law?
By removing infringing material promptly after receiving a takedown notice
By deleting all user content, even when it’s legal
By ignoring copyright complaints from rights holders
Q3: Which action could violate a creator’s moral rights even if you have a commercial license?
Changing a designer’s artwork in a way that damages their professional reputation
Crediting the creator’s name correctly when publishing the work
Buying the artwork under a proper commercial license
