Copyright infringements, however small they may be, occur in many students essays, and reports. According to Purdue University, “The legal penalties for copyright infringement are:

1. Infringer pays the actual dollar amount of damages and profits.
2. The law provides a range from $200 to $150,000 for each work infringed.
3. Infringer pays for all attorneys fees and court costs.
4. The Court can issue an injunction to stop the infringing acts.
5. The Court can impound the illegal works.
6. The infringer can go to jail.

To avoid getting in trouble with copyright infringements “fair use” guidelines have been set up to help students not get caught in a lawsuit. teachingcopyright.org has given four tips to not get in trouble.

1. What is the purpose for your copyright use
2. The Nature of the copyrighted work
3. The amount of work used
4. The effect on the market [Does the author lose money]

Anybody can get in trouble with copyright infringements, so we all need to be very careful. Even big name celebrities have been caught with infringements and sued for this.

Some examples of celebrities being sued are Robin Thicke, and Pharrell Williams for their song “Blurred Lines” because they allegedly copied the beat of Marvin Gaye’s song “Give it Up.” A final verdict has not been given on this case.

Another example would be Sam Smith for his song “Stay With Me” because he copied the beat of Tom Petty’s song “Won’t Back Down.” Tom Petty was awarded with royalties for every copy of “Stay With Me” sold.