Copyright Infringement Risk Biggest Among Execs

In Executives Are Biggest Risk for Copyright Infringement, Copyright Clearance Center explains that nearly half the executives who were surveyed were potentially exposing their organizations’ to the risk of copyright infringement violations. According to the data, 48% of executives believe it’s acceptable to share information as long as it’s not used for commercial purposes, and 45% believe digital or print paid information is fine to share.

“Executives may be the largest creators of risk with regard to copyright compliance within an organization as they are the greatest consumers and sharers of information, both internally and externally,” said Miles McNamee, Vice President, Licensing and Business Development, CCC. “As information sharing accelerates and becomes more critical, the likelihood of copyright violation rises.”

Study results indicate that the total volume of content sharing has increased dramatically since 2007. On average, respondents in 2013 share content with 11.2 people per week compared to 7.2 people per week in 2007. Knowledge workers in Legal, Other Manufacturing, and Telecommunications/Media share with the greatest number of people (13 or more) when they forward information. The study found that knowledge workers’ sharing has increased regardless of company size, with the primary method being email attachment.

“With so many moving parts, seen and unseen, copyright needs to be highlighted in all organizations,” said McNamee. “Knowledge workers need to know of its existence, its importance and the risks of violation.”