Copyfraud Law and Legal Definition
Copyfraud refers to the use of false claims of copyright so as to control a work which is not under one's legal control.
Copyfraud includes the following:
1. Claiming copyright ownership of public domain material
2. Imposition by a copyright owner of restrictions beyond what the law allows.
3. Claiming copyright ownership on the basis of ownership of copies or archives.
4. Claiming copyright ownership by publishing a public domain work in a different medium.
Copyfraud is very prevalent because the laws criminalizing false statements about copyrights are very weak. There is a lack of enforcement of such laws. Copyfraud is very common because only very few expertise are competent to give legal advice on the copyright status.
