Are ye harboring music pirates?
-Adapted from Connecticut Employment Law Letter prepared by attorneys at the law firm Halloran & Sage LLP http://www.HRhero.com/ctemp.shtml?HLe by Jonathan C. Sterling Many landlubbers are modern-day pirates, and their booty is music that they illegally download from the Internet at work. You may think this is just a relatively harmless aspect of the digital age. But beware – it’s called piracy because it’s stealing. And if you turn a blind eye to illegal downloading by your employees, your company may end up walking the plank. Some people, including certain recording industry groups, believe employers should be held liable for copyright violations arising out of your employees downloading protected music and movies even if the music and movies are purely for your employees’ personal use. The law is by no means clear in this area, but it’s important that you know that there are legal theories that could hold you liable for your employees’ illegal downloading. * The law in brief * The f
