what are possible penalties for violating the copyright law?

Question

this is for a report on copyright for school so I need serious answers plz

Answer 1

You could get a major fine up to 250,000 dollars. Possible jail time, but thats if they do crack down hard which they usually do.

Answer 2

1/4 Mil on the fines , Jail time . . .
Students using limewire and stuff are just getting fines in the under $10,000 range tho I think .

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Answer 3

Check out the links below.

506. Criminal offenses
(a) Criminal Infringement. - Any person who infringes a copyright willfully either -

(1) for purposes of commercial advantage or private financial gain, or

(2) by the reproduction or distribution, including by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copies or phonorecords of 1 or more copyrighted works, which have a total retail value of more than $1,000,

shall be punished as provided under section 2319 of title 18, United States Code. For purposes of this subsection, evidence of reproduction or distribution of a copyrighted work, by itself, shall not be sufficient to establish willful infringement.

(b) Forfeiture and Destruction. - When any person is convicted of any violation of subsection (a), the court in its judgment of conviction shall, in addition to the penalty therein prescribed, order the forfeiture and destruction or other disposition of all infringing copies or phonorecords and all implements, devices, or equipment used in the manufacture of such infringing copies or phonorecords.

(c) Fraudulent Copyright Notice. - Any person who, with fraudulent intent, places on any article a notice of copyright or words of the same purport that such person knows to be false, or who, with fraudulent intent, publicly distributes or imports for public distribution any article bearing such notice or words that such person knows to be false, shall be fined not more than $2,500.

(d) Fraudulent Removal of Copyright Notice. - Any person who, with fraudulent intent, removes or alters any notice of copyright appearing on a copy of a copyrighted work shall be fined not more than $2,500.

(e) False Representation. - Any person who knowingly makes a false representation of a material fact in the application for copyright registration provided for by section 409, or in any written statement filed in connection with the application, shall be fined not more than $2,500.

(f) Rights of Attribution and Integrity. - Nothing in this section applies to infringement of the rights conferred by section 106A(a).

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IMO, the bigger problem is CIVIL rather than CRIMINAL penalties.
504. Remedies for infringement: Damages and profits4
(a) In General. - Except as otherwise provided by this title, an infringer of copyright is liable for either -

(1) the copyright owner's actual damages and any additional profits of the infringer, as provided by subsection (b); or

(2) statutory damages, as provided by subsection (c).

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Guys and gals who thought sharing MP3 files of favorite songs got a rude awakening when the music industry cracked down. The courts assessed loss of revenue damages and up to three times that for punitive damages plus court costs, lawyer fees etc.

Napster got shut down for providing ways to this to be done. Napster was hit with lawsuits making them liable for the actions of all it's customers.

Do a Yahoo Search for "copyright infringement" and you will have lots of research resources.