There is no "30% Rule."

I work with a lot of clients who are building their brands and their content, and ane question I frequently get is "isn't there a rule where y'all tin can re-create something equally long as you change 30% of information technology?"

This myth of the "30% rule" is pervasive and widely cited around the Cyberspace, merely it is merely false. There is no thirty% dominion, and any time you re-create someone else's writings, drawings, website, or other artistic work, you run the risk of copyright infringement.

Many people think of copyright infringement as piracy or the creation of unauthorized reproductions of a copyrighted work, like a song, photo, or writing. If you download a TV prove, you are making an unauthorized copy of the Television set show. However, the purpose of copyright law is to both advantage 'makers' and incentivize others to create new artistic works, equally opposed to merely taking the work done by others and claiming it every bit their own. Therefore, copyright protection extends beyond only 'exact' reproductions and into 'substantially similar' reproductions. Just how far away does a work need to get before it is no longer confusingly similar?

The Myth of the 30% Rule and Things to Consider

According to internet lore, if you change 30% of a copyrighted piece of work, it is no longer infringement and you lot can employ information technology however you want. This, as a rule, is imitation. The truth of the matter is much more than complicated.

While dissimilar courts have different legal tests, the key to determining whether something is substantially like will depend on the similarities between the two works in context. This determination also changes depending on the medium.

If an infringer changes every tenth word in an 800-give-and-take article, for instance, but keeps the perspective of the underlying work, the judgement structure, etc. in place, so information technology is likely to still be "substantially similar."

Information technology also depends on how much is copied: single words or brusque phrases are not subject to copyright protection, equally copyright law is not meant to give a monopoly on those items. Also, in that location is a concept called "merger" wherein the idea and the expression of that idea are merged into one – essentially, if there is only 1 way to logically express an idea, then no 1 tin can claim exclusive ownership of that expression.

For example, the instructions in an instruction manual on how to operate a auto cannot be protected under copyright police force – merely the advertising and non-instructional materials tin. A set of lath game rules is non protectable under copyright police, just the 'flavortext' and narrative in the rulebook can.

Continue in mind there is a different assay (chosen "fair apply") as to when you can use parts of someone else's work for criticism, quoting, etc. This requires its own in-depth analysis just typically does not embrace situations where a copier is attempting to laissez passer off someone else's piece of work as their own.

Best Practices for Fugitive Copyright Infringement

Practise
When writing, read many different perspectives on issues and synthesize your own viewpoint and analysis. If you ultimately hold with an article that has been written, take the primary idea and write your own commodity in your own words.

DON'T

Don't copy a blog mail service, change a few words, and pass it off as your own content. If yous are quoting a web log mail service, quote thoughtfully and only take as much as needed to brand your point. Otherwise, you could be exposing yourself to liability. Using an "article spinner" that changes some of the words of a work you don't own can expose you to pregnant liability.

DO
Be skeptical of who you hire for content. "I didn't know what my contractor/employee was doing" is not a defence to copyright infringement. You may be held jointly and severally liable for the infringement, regardless if information technology was your contractor that was the actual infringer.

DON'T
Don't assume that content found on the cyberspace can be freely copied without recourse. Businesses ofttimes spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on digital marketing and their advertizing text is extremely valuable. Further, for SEO purposes, copies made and posted elsewhere detract from the uniqueness of the content and reduce its effectiveness in driving traffic to the creator's website.

If yous have questions about whether you can use someone else'southward content in any way, contact an experienced intellectual holding attorney to talk over – and they tin help you to protect your own creative works from infringers as well!