Is it legal to have something that's copyrighted and not say it's yours?

Question

is it
a. only legal if you take someone's work and say it was their work or have their copyright symbol on it
b. legal to take someone's work and say that you didn't make it
c. legal to take someone's work and not say anything about who made it, just leave out the fact that i/someone else might have made it

Answer 1

The answer is actually d, none of the above. The answer isn't actually quite that clear, but the point is, if you take some ones work and state that it is someone else's you may very well be infringing their copyright despite giving them credit. Copyright infringement has nothing to do with taking/giving credit, but with the fact of copying someone else's work that has copyright protection.

I said the answer isn't exactly clear because of the concept of "fair use." You may legally take someones work if your copying/use of the other person's work is considered a "fair use." "Fair use" is a legal doctrine which protects a new author from being considered an infringer based on a balancing test involving several criteria.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use for more information which includes a listing of the factors used in determining whether something is a fair use.

Answer 2

Even if you attribute to a copywritten source, you are still violating the copyright, absent permission from the holder or an exception to copyright law (fair use). So, the answer to all of the above questions is no, none of them are legal.

Answer 3

You have posted your question in the most confusing way!

Your statement implies that one ought to claim credit for copyrighted work. It is illegal to take credit for the creation of, or to use a copyrighted piece of work without permission.

Generally, you need more than just a copyright symbol on a piece of work if you want to use it. You have to go to the creator of that piece of work and get their permission to use it. For instance, you may not use the Olympic rings symbol on your website even if you put a caption under it saying "property of the IOC." The International Olympic Committee has the right (and desire) to review every single use of their mark.

It is not legal to use a copyrighted piece without getting permission from the creator. For instance, if you want to cover a Blur song, you need to contact Blur and get their permission to sell your version of their song on your album.

Songs or artworks in the public domain (for instance, Row, Row, Row Your Boat is a song in the public domain) you do not need to get permission to record or distribute.

Answer 4

You can not reproduce a copyrighted work without permission from the copyright holder. None of your examples really touch on that.

Answer 5

a) but only if it is a fair use, such as in academic or educational settings. However, any other uses require copyright owners permission.

Answer 6

You cannot have someones copyrighted work period unless you have paid for it or a copy of it.