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For electronic and audio-visual media, unauthorized reproduction and distribution is often referred to as piracy (an early reference was made by Alfred Tennyson in the preface to his poem 'The Lover's Tale' in 1879 where he mentions that sections this work "have of late been mercilessly pirated".) However there is no legal basis for this and indeed in one US copyright lawsuit the judge ordered the plaintiff's legal team to stop using the term. This may occur through organized black market reproduction and distribution channels, sometimes with blatantly open commercial sale (as along the sidewalks of Manhattan's notorious Canal Street), or through purely private copying or downloading to avoid paying a purchase price. With digital technology, most modern piracy involves an exact and perfect copy of the original made from a hard copy or downloaded over the internet. One of the most publicised cases was the spread of Unreleased Madonna Songs including her 2000 hit "Music" prior to the official commercial release date.

The illegal downloading and sharing of music in the form of mp3s is still widespread, even after the demise of Napster and a series of infringement suits brought by the recording industry against music-sharing individuals seemingly chosen by random. Promotional screener DVDs distributed by movie studios (often for consideration for awards) are a common source of unauthorised copying when movies are still in theatrical release, and the MPAA has attempted to restrict their use. Movies are also still copied by someone sneaking a camcorder into a movie theater and secretly taping the projection- although such copies as you might expect are very rarely of anything other than appalling quality.

Though many jurisdictions impose criminal penalties for certain blatant acts of copyright infringement and may try to stop certain infringing imports at the border, copyright infringement is still mainly prosecuted through private lawsuits by the copyright holder or their licensees. When successful, these lawsuits will typically impose monetary damages against the infringer as well as injunctions against future infringing uses.

Many infringement claims involve simple cases of copyright infringement where the copying is obvious. Others, however, are more difficult to resolve because copyright protection is not limited to exact copying. It is inevitable that creative and commercial works will take inspiration from the culture at large, and it is often challenging to determine when this "inspiration" has crossed the line into infringement. There also may be a question of whether the allegedly infringed work is even protected by copyright. Unprotected works may include, for example, compilations of facts that lack the requisite creativity to be covered by copyright, or those works that are in the public domainThe public domain comprises the body of all creative works and other knowledge—writing, artwork, music, science, inventions, and others—in which no person or organization has any proprietary interest. Proprietary interest is typically represented by a cop because the copyright term expired.

Copyright notices—often just a simple statement on the work itself of the year protection was acquired and by whom—are not always a good indication of whether or not a work is protected because most countries do not require such formalities, and so lack of notice does not mean lack of protection. Courts may also subsequently decide in the context of an infringement suit that the work did not meet the minimum criteria for copyright protection, even if the work had been previously registered by a government copyright agency. However, copyright notices give at least some indication of who to contact if permission is needed, and when a copyright will expire, though the copyright terms of preexisting works are sometimes legislatively extended (as with the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension ActIn the United States, the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 extended the duration of U. copyrights by 20 years. Before the act, copyrights lasted for the life of the author plus fifty years. After the act, copyrights lasted the life of the a) or even restored after expiration.

To avoid infringement claims, the right to make use of a copyrighted work can be acquired through an explicit contract or license with the author or publisher, through purchasing a lawful copy (which may provide a number of rights to the purchaser, as under the first-sale doctrineThe first-sale doctrine is an exception to copyright codified in the US Copyright Act, section 109. The doctrine of first sale allows the purchaser to transfer (i. sell, rent, or give away) a particular, legally acquired copy of protected work without per), and for certain types of media, statutory licenseA statutory license or compulsory license is a copyright license to use content under reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. In the United States it is defined by an Act of Congress in the copyright law. Similar laws exist in other countries. For exampls (such as for reproducing and recording musical works under U.S. copyright law). Even without going through such channels to get prior authorization for use of the copyrighted material, doctrines such as fair usecopyrighted and trademarked, the fair use doctrine permits their use in certain contexts without prior permission. The fair use doctrine is a body of law and court decisions which provides for limitations and exceptions to copyright protection in the Unit or fair dealingFair dealing is a doctrine of limitations and exceptions to copyright which is found in many of the common law jurisdictions of the Commonwealth of Nations (which is largely descendant of the former British Empire). Fair dealing is an enumerated set of po may provide potentially broad defenses to infringement claims. The failure of a copyright holder to bring a timely lawsuit against known infringers may later block such a claim by establishing an implied license, as may other acts or omissions that could informally signal consent to use the work.

Exploitive or restrictive use of a copyright by its legal holder is sometimes informally called reverse piracy, though the legal term is copyright misuseCopyright misuse is an equitable defense against copyright infringement in the United States based on the unreasonable conduct of the copyright owner. The doctrine forbids the copyright owner from attempting to secure an exclusive right or limited monopol.

For a substantial discussion of copyright infringement in the software domain, see copyright infringement of softwareThe copyright infringement of software is often called software piracy by those seeking to reduce its incidence. There are several practices which when done without the permission of the copyright holder may be called software piracy: Creating a copy and.