Re: Fair Use resources

[Todd at Fantastic Plastic] "In some instances a signed "waiver" like that might actually hurt, because you can no longer "play dumb"... you now basically have paperwork saying that you fully know you shouldn't be using the music."

Absolutely true!!! Knowing that its wrong beforehand constitutes a willfull act. As you will see below, in the eyes of the law a willful act of copyright infringement carries penalties that are indeed much more severe.

The law reads as follows: "In a case where the copyright owner sustains the burden of proving, and the court finds, that infringement was committed willfully, the court in its discretion may increase the award of statutory damages to a sum of not more than $150,000. In a case where the infringer sustains the burden of proving, and the court finds, that such infringer was not aware and had no reason to believe that his or her acts constituted an infringement of copyright, the court in its discretion may reduce the award of statutory damages to a sum of not less than $200."

David Roth Weiss
Director/Editor
David Weiss Productions, Inc.
Los Angeles

POST-PRODUCTION WITHOUT THE USUAL INSANITY

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