Copyright

This is a matter of law. The reproduction of copyright material without the owner's permission is a breach of that law and is not treated lightly. There are serious penalties for breach of copyright, potentially leading to heavy fines or imprisonment.

A moments reflection will be enough to see that a business engaged in the legitimate copying of material, must have the full confidence of it's clients. They want to know that the content of their master will be safeguarded and they, in return, must be careful not to infringe the rights of others.

It is a condition of our Terms and Conditions of Business that our clients warrant that they have the right to allow the content of the master they present to us to be copied. copyright compliance letter

In the case of music we will require to see your MCPS licence or other evidence that the owner of the work has given permission for you to make multiple copies and that you have made arrangements to pay any royalties which may be due.

It is not safe to assume that certain classes of music are in the public domain and you should always check.

Similar care must be taken with the soundtrack of Video presentations.

Images may, or may not, be free to use and this should also be verified. This is particularly important in relation to images of an actual person.

In the case of data and/or software programs, you will be asked to assert that you have the right to make copies of it. If the data needs proprietory software to read it, or run it, then you may need permission if you intend to include a copy of that program in your master. This applies even if the program is available free of charge. By itself, this does not convey the right to distribute it. In cases like this is it usually a simple matter to download the appropriate licence from the owner's website.

Brand Advance sees the copyright law as positive. It safeguards the livelihood of creative people and helps to insure that they are able to go on being creative to the benefit of everyone. The plain fact is - using stuff that other people have worked to create, without their permission, is theft.