Corporate Liability for Infringement
Any organization or individual that violates any of the exclusive rights of a copyright holder, whether by copying, distributing, performing, displaying or adapting the work without authorization, is legally an infringer. Ignorance of the law will not excuse the violation -- the organization will be liable, whether they knew their acts constituted infringement or not.
Employers are typically responsible -- legally and financially -- for the misdeeds of their employees on the job, whether they are copyright infringement, discrimination or sexual harassment.
In addition, corporate officers and members of the board of directors cannot always hide behind the corporate veil. For example, an officer of an infringing corporation may be personally liable for infringement done by someone in his company if he:
- uses employees to carry out deliberate infringement;
- personally participates in the infringement;
- determines the policies that result in infringement; or
- derives a financial benefit from the infringement.
Every person who participates in an organization's copyright infringement may be "jointly and severally liable" for the actions, meaning that each defendant can be required to compensate the copyright owner for the full damages and legal fees assessed, up to the entire amount assessed. These costs can be substantial even for infringement that does not cause great economic loss. Consequently, liability extends far beyond the individual who may have made the original copies.