Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Kentucky

Re: Do I have the rights to recieve money for material I made being sold?

It depends on what is on the CD. If you created a work of authorship -- if you are the owner of the copyright in the work that is on the CD, and assuming you have not licensed or transferred your rights to someone else, anyone who is reproducing your work and selling it would be violating two of your exclusive rights as copyright owner: the right of reproduction and the right of distribution.

If your copyrights are being infringed, you would be entitled to sue to seek both an injunction against further reproduction and distribution and for damages. As for damages, you would have a choice of either actual damages plus the profits of the infringer or statutory damages. Under statutory damages, these range from $750 to $30,000 �as the court considers just� � potentially for each infringing reproduction and each infringing distribution. If you can prove that the infringer acted willfully (that is, they knew they were infringing and did it anyway), the court may increase the maximum statutory damages to $150,000 per infringement.

But if the CD does not contain a copyrighted work, there may be nothing you can do (unless it is a trade secret or trademark infringement). Also, even if you are the copyright owner, if the reproduction was made under license, then these are considered �lawfully made� copies, entitling the owner to distribute them without your permission.

In short, while this is not intended to provide you with any legal advice, what you have stated is enough to advise you to contact a lawyer, preferably one with some copyright experience. If you win, the court may award you attorneys fees as well. (Keep in mind that an award of damages and attorneys fees may not do you much good if the infringer has no money.)

Good luck.