copyfraud

English

Etymology

A compound of copy +‎ fraud. Coined in an August 2005 article, "Copyfraud" [1] by Jason Mazzone, an Associate Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School.

Noun

copyfraud (uncountable)

1. (law) False claims of copyright, such as a claim of copyright ownership of public domain material.
   • 2006, Mark Jordan, Putting Content Online: A Practical Guide for Libraries‎^[2], →ISBN, pages 47, 48:

     Copyfraud is falsely claiming copyright ownership of works in the public domain. […] Mazzone's article describes copyfraud within the context of US copyright law, but he points out that: ‘As a result of the Berne Convention, there are some basic similarities throughout much of the world.[’]

   • 2008 January 25, Rod Pemberton, “Re: modernization of FORTH, Age Results”, in comp.lang.forth‎^[3] (Usenet):

     The GPL and GPL FAQ don't say that applying a copyright and license (GPL) to Public Domain works after a trivial modification is copyfraud either, but it is.

   • 2008, Eva Hemmungs Wirtén, “‘I am Two Mowglis’: Kipling, Disney, and a Lesson in How to Use (and Abuse) the Public Domain”, in Terms of Use: Negotiating the Jungle of the Intellectual Commons‎^[4], →ISBN, page 105:

     Made possible because people trust in the veracity of something that at times is nothing more than a chimera, copyfraud is a particularly acute problem when exacerbated by public institutions like museums.

Usage notes

• False claims do not need to be fraudulent or made in bad faith to qualify as copyfraud.