In 2010, the rapper Jay Z wrote a memoir. A couple of years later, one of his readers sued him for plagiarism. Sadly, lawsuits like this are common, even when the author being sued is not guilty of plagiarism.  Copyright trolls are a real threat to any author who wants to make money. 

According to US law, the penalty for copyright infringement is up to $150,000 plus court fees per infringement. If you don’t have $150,000 on hand, a copyright troll could seize your car, your investments, and in some states, even take your house. 

Publishing a book can open you up to millions of dollars of liability, even if your book is not a financial success. A book that earned only a few thousand dollars for you can still lead to a lawsuit that could bankrupt your whole family. 

Even if you didn’t actually infringe on someone’s copyright, you might still lose a lawsuit to a copyright troll. 

Copyright trolls are real. They make millions of dollars by suing authors and musicians in court. Whether you’re indie or traditional, published or unpublished, you need to know how to prepare for and defend against copyright trolls.

How do you fight a troll? 

First, a disclaimer: I am not a lawyer or a CPA. 

However, the famous Tom Umstattd, CPA, is my dad. I did go to business school, and I took an entire semester class on copyright infringement. I have also founded a couple of LLCs myself. I will be summarizing a semester’s worth of education in a 30-minute episode, so I will be glossing over a lot. As with every discussion about taxes and laws, the details get technical very quickly. 

So while I am familiar with this topic, this article is for general education. This article should not replace specialized advice from an attorney or a CPA about your specific situation. 

Additionally, we will only cover American law. I know some international authors who make most of their money in the US sometimes form an American LLC to receive that money. If you live outside the US, you will definitely want to talk with a legal or tax professional familiar with your local laws. 

What is an LLC?

An LLC is a Limited Liability Company. So what is a Limited Liability Company? To answer that question, we must go back in time. 

Five hundred years ago, the hottest business of the day was international shipping. If you could afford to build a ship and hire a crew, you could send that ship to India. That ship could return to you with spices that were worth a fortune. I could change your life. Your ship and crew could also sink or get attacked by pirates. 

As a way to reduce risk, merchants started forming companies. A company is a legal entity and functions as an artificial person. In the eyes of the law, a company can own property, sue, and be sued. So instead of ten merchants each owning a single ship and assuming all the risk as individuals, they would form a company. Each merchant owned 10% of the company, and that company had ten ships. While some of the ships might sink, enough of them would return to keep the operation profitable. 

Unlike humans, companies live forever until they are killed.

Id. d’épisode : 1000528829002

GUID : https://www.authormedia.com/?p=26096

Date de publication : 14/7/2021 à 09:06:00