We at SalonGalaxy.com^TM are dedicated to providing the best possible environment for sharing ideas, imagery and content with the world. While we strive to make this ability as open as possible, there exists a common concern on the topic of copyright and copyright infringement. Posting copyright-infringing content is not only potentially personally damaging to your professional credibility, it can lead to the termination of your account and the possibly monetary damages should the copyright owner decide to take legal action. As part of our commitment to you and all our members we have created some guidelines to help you determine whether your content is eligible for posting or whether if infringes someone else's copyright.

The SalonGalaxy.com^TM commitment to professionalism extends far beyond our own site in that we acknowledge and respect the rights of all artists and creators, and we expect our members to work with us to make our community a creative, legal and positive experience for everyone, members and non-members alike.

How to avoid infringing someone else'e copyrights

The easiest way to avoid infringing someone else's copyright is to create something completely original using your own arsenal of skills and imagination. Images, videos, articles or any other type of content created by directly by you with no outside material included is a good start. If it's all yours, you are the owner of the copyright! Just make sure your content is consistent with our terms of use as well before posting of course.

For videos, be sure that all aspects, including audio, are your original creation. While it is popular to place an audio track of sound recordings or songs from other sources with the video imagery this may be copyright infringement if it's done with the record label's permission. Videos that infringe copyright in any component are subject to removal and the posting account may be subject to termination.

Commercial content is copyrighted

While we encourage the creative process of all of our members, we are sometimes forced to remove content for copyright infringement in an effort to keep the community as a positive force for the entire member base. If we become aware of any unauthorized use of copyrighted material we will remove the offending content promptly. That is how we protect the community. That is the law.

Some examples of copyrighted content are:

• TV shows
  • Including sitcoms, sports broadcasts, news broadcasts, comedy shows, cartoons, dramas, etc.
  • Includes network and cable TV, pay-per-view and on-demand TV
• Music videos, such as the ones you might find on music video channels
• Videos of live concerts, even if you captured the video yourself
  • Even if you took the video yourself, the performer controls the right to use his/her image in a video, the songwriter owns the rights to the song being performed, and sometimes the venue prohibits filming without permission, so this video is likely to infringe somebody else's rights.
  • Movies and movie trailers
  • Commercials
  • Slide shows that include photos or images owned by somebody else

Some thoughts to help guide your decision to post

• It doesn't matter how long or short the clip is, or exactly how it got to SalonGalaxy.com. If you taped it off cable, videotaped your TV screen, or downloaded it from some other website, it is still copyrighted, and requires the copyright owner's permission to distribute.
• It doesn't matter whether or not you give credit to the owner/author/songwriter-it is still copyrighted.
• It doesn't matter that you are not selling the video for money-it is still copyrighted.
• It doesn't matter whether or not the video contains a copyright notice-it is still copyrighted.
• It doesn't matter whether other similar videos appear on our site-it is still copyrighted.
• It doesn't matter if you created a video made of short clips of copyrighted content-even though you edited it together, the content is still copyrighted.

What Will Happen If You Upload Infringing Content

Any content that infringes the copyrights of a third party, in part or in whole, will be removed from the site. This is required by law. If you feel that any content on the site infringes your copyright you should send us your copyright notice and we will remove it. If we have removed content you uploaded that you believe was removed in error and that you are the copyright owner or have permission for the use of all aspects of the content you should provide us a notice. Accounts that we feel are repeat infringers may be subject to termination. Users with suspended or terminated accounts are prohibited from creating new accounts or accessing any of SalonGalaxy.com's community features.

"Fair use" - What it is....and isn't

There are few, very limited situations in which the use of copyrighted content may be legal even without permission. This is known as the principle of "fair use" in copyright law.

The U.S. copyright statues outlines several factors to determine whether the use of copyrighted content qualifies as a "fair use". Unfortunately, the analysis and weighing of these factors is often quite subjective and complex, making it difficult to determine with any amount of certainty whether that use is a "fair use". For any use the copyright owner may disagree the use and chose to pursue legal action. Should the court agree with the copyright owner, in effect determining that your use is not "fair use" and in fact infringes on the copyrights of the owner, you may be liable for monetary damages.

Due to the amount of content on SalonGalaxy.com, we cannot make a determination of whether your content qualifies as "fair use". We cannot offer legal advice in these matters. We will do our best to be fair and allow for disputes of content removal due to copyright infringement. If you have questions about a particular situation we suggest you consult legal counsel.

Below are are a few links where you can learn more about the principle of "fair use". Please note, however, that your decision about the application of "fair use" rights in your content is solely yours, and we at SalonGalaxy.com^TM bear no responsibility for your decision.

Fair Use Links on the Web

• http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
• http://fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/
• http://www.copyrightwebsite.com/Info/Law/FairUse.aspx
• http://chillingeffects.org/fairuse/

DISCLAIMER: WE ARE NOT YOUR ATTORNEYS, AND THE INFORMATION WE PRESENT HERE IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE. WE PRESENT THIS INFORMATION FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.