Welcome to www.minisinbox.com

Copyright Infringement Play It Safe: Making Sure You're Not Committing Copyright Infringement Copyright infringement is not an easy thing to explain. While it may seem as simple as not using someone else’s work, it’s not that easy. Thanks to the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and many other organizations, we have the ability to use others’ works – as long as we use it under ‘fair use’ laws. So what does fair use have to do with copyright infringement, and how can you utilize it? Fair use laws are the conditions in which you can use a copyrighted work without having to pay someone royalties. This includes when you use a copyrighted work for educational or instructional uses, criticism of the work, commentaries on the work, news reporting about the work, teaching on the work (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship uses, and research. This is talked about fully in Section 107 of the Copyright Code (commonly called Fair Use) and is available for you to read at your local library. Copyright Infringement in day-to-day life Sometimes, if you’re writing a paper for work or school, or if you are creating a Power Point presentation, you need to use someone’s work that is already in copyright. So how do you use it without committing copyright infringement? All you have to do is ask – the worst they can say is no, right? But, if they do say no, there are several items in the public domain which may help you to finish your project without having to commit copyright infringement. What is the public domain, and how does it relate to copyright infringement? Material that is not copyrighted is considered in the public domain – you cannot commit copyright infringement on works in the public domain. These works include things that the copyright has expired on, or is not copyright-able – such as government publications, jokes, titles, and ideas. Some creators (writers, musicians, artists, and more) deliberately put their work in the public domain, without ever obtaining copyright, by providing an affiliation with Creative Commons. Creative Commons allows people who create materials to forfeit some, or all, of their copyright rights and place their work either partially or fully in the public domain. So, how do I ensure I’m not committing copyright infringement? First of all, if you’re going to use someone else’s material, you may want to check the public domain to see if something is suitable for use, instead of trying to use someone else’s copyright. However, if you can’t find something suitable (and you can’t create something yourself), the next best thing (and your only legal course of action) is to find a piece that is in copyright, and contacting the copyright holder. When you contact the copyright holder, make sure you tell them what you want to use their piece for – whether it’s for your blog, podcast, or report – and ask them if you can use it. You may have to pay royalties, or an attribution in your piece, or a combination of both. The creator may also place many limitations on when and how you can use their material. Follow all these instructions they give you, and you’ll be free and clear to use their work as you want. Once you have permission to use a copyrighted work, you need to make sure you stay within the agreed-upon boundaries - if you veer outside their agreed terms, you may open yourself up for a copyright infringement lawsuit – which can be nasty, costly, and time consuming. If you’re in doubt, before contacting the copyright holder, contact a copyright lawyer to ensure you’re following the law – and protect yourself!

Software copyright sample Software Copyright Sample Builds Loyal Customer Bases When choosing software copyright sample many before focusing on one or two. It is impossible to try every piece of software that exists in the world of software today. There are so many pieces of software currently on the market and new software being created as I type this. With so many new and different, competing and interesting software programs so widely available you might find something wonderful and unique available at a wonderful price or better yet, for free in the open source arena. Open source software isn't exactly software copyright sample material. This software is occasionally used as a testing ground for unproven versions of software, for software testing, or simply to determine the demand for a particular type of software. Chances are pretty good however; that if you've ever thought, "I wish I could find a program that did (insert whatever here)" someone else has had the same thought and created a program that will do just that. Perhaps the greatest beauty of a software copyright sample is that you get a taste of what the software can do without the expense of purchasing to find out whether it is right for you or your needs. There are actually many ways that companies both for profit and open source companies allow potential customers or converts to sample their products. Linux is a great example of this. They have gone from an open source nuisance to a viable competitor to many larger software companies by providing free software or a software copyright sample to consumers in order to whet their appetites for future offerings designed with profit in mind. What has developed is a viable (and growing) source of competition for Microsoft. Many open source developers are operating very much like Linux and starting out by offering a free software copyright sample to those who will try them out and give them feedback. They use the feedback to make improvements and build better products while making a name for themselves, their customer service, and the quality of the products they build. It's a win-win situation for many consumers and businesses that are just starting out and operating on a shoestring on both the part of those that offer the software copyright sample and those that are benefiting from the sample. Other companies are not as altruistic or are not as willing to wait for the payoffs. Instead of offering a completely free software copyright sample, they will offer you a free trial to their software that will either end at the end of the trial period and require a new subscription or automatically begin charging your credit card. Both of these practices have proven themselves to be highly effective methods of winning not only new customers but also seemingly unshakeable customer loyalty on the part of those that purchase software from these developers or companies. If you do an Internet search for open source software I think you will be astounded at the quality and selection that exists. There are programs that exist to do almost anything. My favorite (I must admit) are the game, but there are also many wonderful programs that can do amazing things like track your golf score, convert currency, help you organize your kitchen more effectively, figure out how much tile you need in a room. Almost anything that needs to be done, there is a piece of software that can do it-open source. The important thing to remember is that you won't find these programs in your local software store but you may find something similar to your copyright software sample that will cost considerably more money than the finished and polished version of the software that you are able to sample free.

Ten Top Things That Make for a Great Employee If there is one thing that everyone can agree upon in the job market it is that great employees are hard to come by. Whether you are an employee yourself and you feel like you are always pulling the weight of the other people in the office or if you are a boss who is wondering how you can actually get some people on board who can do the job, you know that great employees are at a premium. But what exactly makes an employee great? These ten top things are guides to bosses looking for greatness in a new hire and for employees trying to get noticed in the workplace and be the kind of employee who has the potential to move up in the company chain. The first thing that makes an employee great is that they are always dependable. Great employees do the job they are supposed to do every time, and no one has to worry that they don’t deliver the goods. A great employee can be counted to always have their work done right, when it is supposed to be done – it is a forgone conclusion that they will, and no one else has to spend any time worrying about it. The second thing to look for in a great employee is that they are a team player. A great employee isn’t one who is constantly looking for attention or hogs the spotlight. Instead, a great employee works with everyone else to make sure that the things that need to get done do get done, for the good of the company. The third mark of employee greatness is that they know how to take direction. Great employees know how to take criticism, direction and advice gracefully and make it work for them when doing their job. Fourthly, a great employee can be trusted. They don’t spread office gossip and they don’t dish company dirt. Likewise, they always tell the truth to their employer, even if it lands them in hot water. The fifth sign of greatness in employees is linked to the fourth – a great employee always guards the confidential nature of their business dealings and protects everyone’s privacy. The sixth thing that makes an employee great is that they participate in the day to day life of the office. They don’t bow out of meetings or skip the office birthday celebrations. These things may not be a fun part of working life, and everyone involved knows that everyone else has some place they would rather be – but a great employee wouldn’t be any place else. In seventh place comes the fact that a great employee gets along with other employees. Every office has one person that is in everyone else’s business and talks to loud on the phone and generally stirs things up and gets under everyone’s skin. This kind of employee zaps office morale – a great employee is a good co-worker to everyone. The eighth thing a great employee has is good working skills. It may sound obvious, but a great employee has the abilities needed to do their job, and they constantly seek ways to improve, like going to training seminars or seeking further education. Great workers have great skills. The ninth thing that leads to employee greatness is tact and decorum. If there is a problem in the office, a great employee doesn’t make a scene in front of everyone else. A great employee will deal with such issues with privacy and diplomacy. Further, a great employee doesn’t tell tasteless, political or religious jokes, nor do they send emails that tell these kinds of jokes. Last but not least, a great employee has a great attitude. Bad attitudes bring everyone down. A great employee helps make work great for everyone else by having a good spirit about their job.