No Copyright Infringement Intended?
DISCLAIMER: This article is not intended as legal advice, as an attorney specializing in the field should be consulted.
If you upload a video on YouTube without permission from the owner, you have infringed on the owner of that video’s Copyright. Nevertheless, these days, searching YouTube will unearth countless videos that contain the disclaimer “No Copyright Infringement Intended.” This begs the question — does adding “No Copyright Infringement Intended” actually eliminate one’s risk of being held liable for Copyright infringement? NO!
Copyright infringement is what’s known as a “strict liability tort,” meaning that your intent is actually irrelevant for proving infringement. No matter the intent, it does not justify the infringement, and there are many notable court cases ruling against defendants in cases where the infringement was completely unintentional. Nevertheless, one’s intent is still relevant for the purposes of determining damages, as willful Copyright infringement is often punished more harshly than more accidental or unknowing cases.
That leads to the countless videos containing the disclaimer “No Copyright Infringement Intended.” On the surface, this appears to be a good faith effort, but one the other hand, isn’t it also evidence that the person knew that he or she was, at least, probably infringing?
