APRIL 25, 2023

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Welcome to The Tilt, a twice-weekly newsletter for content entrepreneurs.

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Copyrights and Fair Use

Content creators (and others) often use their mouse to right click, copy image, and paste it into their content.

Some call it “borrowing.” Some justify the usage by crediting the original creator or source.

But all those linguistic gymnastics don’t change a thing. You may be violating the owner’s copyright. (And after all, you wouldn’t like someone to do that to you.)

It’s time for a refresher course on copyrights, fair use, and public domain.

Creators own the copyright from the moment they create it. Unless they transfer those ownership rights or create it as “work for hire,” they get to determine how their creations are used.

The US Copyright Office explains: “Copyright is a type of intellectual property that protects original works of authorship as soon as an author fixes the work in a tangible form of expression. In copyright law, there are a lot of different types of works, including paintings, photographs, illustrations, musical compositions, sound recordings, computer programs, books, poems, blog posts, movies, architectural works, plays, and so much more!”

CAVEAT: When you reproduce original content from a third party, secure their permission first.

Well, the cost could be high. Civil copyright infringement fines range from $750 to $30K per work infringed, as the University of Arkansas explains. (Willful copyright infringement, which is a criminal violation, can lead to prison time and significant fines.)

The copyright owner benefits if they pursue the litigation route by having previously registered their works with the US Copyright Office. They can seek certain monetary damages and attorney fees and sue with the presumption the registration is correct.

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act offers creators another avenue to get the allegedly offending creations removed whether they’ve registered the work or not. The creator can issue a takedown notice to internet service providers, search engines, hosting firms, and other online site operators. They send a notice to the person accused of the violation, who can respond. But often, the takedown notice leads the user to remove the material.

What about fair use? The US Copyright Act provides some exceptions and limitations often referred to as “fair use.” Among the uses of a copyrighted work that is acceptable are criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. “Transformative” uses are often OK as they add something new with a further purpose or different character and do not substitute for the original use of the work.

However, no word count, image size, use frequency, etc., are detailed, so each circumstance is decided on a case-by-case basis.

What about the public domain? Creators can’t copyright facts or discoveries – all of that is in the public domain and usable without permission. When a copyright expires, the work enters the public domain. But that takes a long time. For works created after 1977, it’s the creator’s life plus 70 years. If the creator is anonymous, it’s 95 years from publication or 120 years from creation, whichever is shorter.

– Ann Gynn​

Get the full story and resources on copyrights.

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Entrepreneur: Anthony Fasano

Biz: Engineering Management Institute

Tilt: Helping engineers and engineering firms grow

Primary Channels: Podcasts, YouTube (33K subscribers across three channels)

Other Channel: Blog​

Time to First Dollar: 2 years

Rev Streams: Sponsorships, learning and development programs

Our Favorite Actionable Advice:

• Don’t go for big audiences: Identifying a content tilt that appeals to a mass audience is a mistake. Find a niche, as Anthony did with engineering career advice, that will appeal to an interested audience.
• Be ready for ups and downs: When a primary client left, Anthony had to return to a traditional job, but he didn’t stop working on EMI. Five years later, he became a full-time content entrepreneur and expanded his business.
• Partner up: Anthony works with industry associations in cross-promotion trades. He gives a free podcast sponsorship in exchange for access to their audiences.

– Sarah Lindenfeld Hall

​Read our full story of Anthony Fasano.​

Know a content creator who’s going full tilt? DM us. Or email tilt@thetilt.com.

At the first Creator Economy Expo in 2022, three Tilt community members got something they weren’t expecting: The birth of a weekly podcast!

Michelle Peterson Clark, Marc Angelos, and Mike Neubauer discovered their shared interest over CEX lunches and the Web3 stream of talks. By the end of 2022, they launched Web3 By Three with YouTube channel, LinkedIn Live, and Twitter Spaces.

At CEX 2023, they reunite in person to do a live podcast at the Evergreen Podcasting booth at 4 p.m. May 3.

​Join them. And who else might you meet there and where could it take your content business?

​Read Michelle Peterson Clark’s take on the CEX-born adventure.

New feature: Do you have a tale to share about your life as a creator entrepreneur? Reply to this email or let Ann know.​
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• ​Time to Rethink Your Destination? (Content Inc.)
• ​Twitter X and Its Boujie Verification Service (This Old Marketing)
• ​Follow this step-by-step guide to inform your business startup (Business News Daily)
• ​Have you heard this “best” advice for entrepreneurs? (Entrepreneur)
• Check out For The Interested Newsletter by The Tilt's friend Josh Spector. It's a newsletter that shows creative entrepreneurs how to produce, promote, and profit from their creations based on how others have successfully done it.*

*The Tilt receives a small commission if readers (at no additional cost) make a purchase using this link.

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Your team for this issue: Joe Pulizzi, Pam Pulizzi, Ann Gynn, Laura Kozak, Marc Maxhimer, and Dave Anthony with an assist from Sarah Lindenfeld Hall.