Whenever someone uses pirated software or downloads a pirated video of a movie still playing in theaters, it's copyright infringement, and a violation of intellectual property (IP) rights that are part of the law in the U.S., and recognized by many other nations in a reciprocal fashion.
Copyright, trademark, and patent law are all enforced by the U.S. Department of Commerce, which is a Cabinet position office part of the executive branch designed to promote economic growth, international trade, technology access, and other sectors that are vital to the U.S. economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is also part of the Commerce Department.
Once upon a time, in 1903, the otherwise astute President Teddy Roosevelt naively created the Department of Commerce and Labor, the equivalent of putting the Hatfields and the McCoys together into a cabin for a season of Big Brother. President Howard Taft, a judge before and after his term as President, wisely divided them into separate Cabinet departments ten years later.
Related or Semi-related Video
Finance: What are trademark v copyright?12 Views
finance a la shmoop what's the difference between a trademark and a
copyright all right well here's that little TM thingy for trademark or an R [Trademark and registered trademark symbols appear]
in a circle for registered trademark and here's that little C thing for copyright
so there's a starter the letters and well the artwork are different both are
assets if a company owns them shmansi assets called intellectual property
trademarks and copyrights are basically legal boats like the mode around a [Man discussing trademarks and copyrights]
castle filled with sharks in the human crap nobody else can use those
trademarks and/or copyrights without permission and that permission usually [Permission slip appears]
comes with a check written from the user to the company who owns them so that's
how they're the same but what about how are they different mm-hmm all right well
here's the quick and dirty answer copyrights protect artistic or written
work trademarks protect goods and services if it's a copyright you want [Trademark definition appears on dollar bill]
well you'll register for one through the US Copyright Office you know them well
here at shmoop or if a trademark is more what you're after you'd hop on over to
the u.s. trademark office so your manifesto on the importance of brushing [Manifesto appears]
your teeth yeah you'll want to copyright that maybe actually invented a new
toothpaste that makes your breath smell fresh like strawberries yeah trademark [Strawberry toothpaste appears]
that wrote a new piece of music you're hoping to sell on iTunes
yeah copyright that pedaling your new music software trademark okay yeah so
well let's come back to shmoop what about us our world-beating learning [Shmoop video appears]
guides and courses our original written material so yeah we copyright them
but our snazzy logo and the company itself yeah trademarked there now you
speak copyright but we still speak student