Embedded Files
What Can Be Copyrighted?
What Can Be Copyrighted?
First... keep in mind that ideas cannot be copyrighted. Only physical or digital manifestations of an idea can. For example, a board game concept can be copyrighted once it is written-out and images are created and made available for viewing for some other parties (to prove their existence). The board game itself, however, cannot be copyrighted until it is manufactured in physical form. No works created prior to 1924 are or can be copyrighted.
The Current Landscape
The Current Landscape
The ease of digital image capture has tested copyright law like no time before. It's the wild, wild west out there and the truth is, image, video and audio reproduction is nearly impossible to control on the internet. Many artists and designers go to great lengths to protect their own images (with copyright notices and water marks) but routinely grab images for their own use without permission or giving credit, claiming to use it only for reference or changing it to a degree where it is no longer recognizable, and this can very well be a fair case of appropriation. But of course, they would not want it done with their own work. Fan Art (clear copies and derivations of protected images) are rampant yet tolerated and even encouraged by major media corporations because it is a form of participatory appreciation that ultimately manifests in increased sales for the parent companies.
Royalty-Free Does Not Mean Free for Use
Royalty-Free Does Not Mean Free for Use
You will frequently see stock art and video site advertise "royalty-free" images. This does not mean they are free to use. It means that once you purchase the image or video, you can use it as many times for as many different purposes as you wish, without paying individual fees for multiple uses. Images that are not royalty-free, require the purchaser to pay for each use. For instance; you would pay one licensing fee for a print publication with a circulation of 20,000 and a different (greater) fee for one with a circulation of 100, 000. If you then wished to use it on a web page, that would be an additional use fee. Whether the rights are royalty-free or not, you are purchasing usage, not the copyright. Therefore, reselling is strictly prohibited.
Copyright and Student Works
Copyright and Student Works
Students are allowed to use copyrighted materials to practice their craft (appropriating music for a demo reel for example), but not teachers or professionals. Even so, students should avoid this kind of appropriation when creating media that they will publish in a public venue for public consumption such as Vimeo, Youtube, Instagram or Dribble. Works incorporating appropriated, copy-written materials belong only In a student portfolio website where they are clearly labeled as student works and proper credit is being given to the appropriated material.
Copyright and Your Portfolio Website
Copyright and Your Portfolio Website
Any work that you performed for a client, whether on a "volunteer", "work for hire", "contract" or "employee" basis should have the permission of the client/company for inclusion (in writing). Often this can be done with an e-mail (archive the email). The rights for portfolio inclusion should be included with your initial estimate or project brief. Put a copyright notice on the bottom of the page... but don't date it.
Example: "Unless otherwise noted, all images and text on this website are copyrighted by Fred Flintstone".
Also: if you are including works (with permission) not owned by you... state next to the work who that entity is by name.
Ex: "Shown with permission of: Warner Brothers Media"
Example Copyright Registration
Example Copyright Registration
Actionable Copyright
Actionable Copyright
Apply the Golden Rule... If you would not like your work to be handled in a certain way, then don't do that to other artists and designers.
Register With the U.S. Copyright Office and/or apply the copyright mark onto or next to the work. This lets the world know that you intend to protect the work in a court of law if you feel it has been infringed. You do not have to do either to be protected by copyright law in the U.S., they are really methods for securing creation dates and providing notice.
Threaten Litigation in a cease and desist letter in an attempt to convince another artist or designer to stop using your media. But remember... a copyright's legitimacy can only be determined, if it is litigated and there is a ruling by a jury, judge or arbitrator. Up to that point, its validity is strictly conjecture.
Apply the Test for Fair Use if you are not sure wether you or someone else is infringing on a copyright. Here, I have included excerpts from the guidelines created by Stanford University:
The Transformative Factor: The Purpose and Character of Your Use
Has the material you have taken from the original work been transformed by adding new expression or meaning?
Was value added to the original by creating new information, new aesthetics, new insights, and understandings?
The Nature of the Copyrighted Work
Because the dissemination of facts or information benefits the public, you have more leeway to copy from factual works such as biographies than you do from fictional works such as plays or novels.
Parody, criticism, scholarship, research and journalism (with a credited source) can also be fair use.
A very small percentage of the total piece of media can be used for teaching under fair use
The Amount and Substantiality of the Portion Taken
The less you take, the more likely that your copying will be excused as a fair use.
However, even if you take a small portion of a work, your copying will not be a fair use if the portion taken is the “heart” of the work.
The Effect of the Use Upon the Potential Market
Another important fair use factor is whether your use deprives the copyright owner of income or undermines a new or potential market for the copyrighted work.
Depriving a copyright owner of income is very likely to trigger a lawsuit.
How Can I Share My Work
How Can I Share My Work
You may want to, as a member of an art and design community, share your work for free. You can let others know that this is the case by using a Creative Commons License. Here is their mission statement:
Creative Commons helps you share your knowledge and creativity with the world.
We're helping to realize the full potential of the Internet—universal access to research and education, full participation in culture—to drive a new era of development growth, and productivity.
Trademark
Trademark
Trademark is different from Copyright. It is for registering product and company names, marks and logos. More than one company can claim a trademark on a name as long as they are not in a competing enterprise. For example, EPIC is a name for which many enterprises are claiming a trademark.
Click here to search and obtain trademarks
Legal Resources
Legal Resources
Graphic Artists Guild Handbook of Pricing and Ethical Guidelines
This addresses legal rights and issues such as how copyright laws affect the income and work of graphic artists. It also provides tips on how to negotiate the best deals and how and what to charge for work, and includes sample contracts. For design and illustration professionals, there is no more comprehensive and informative resource.
Stanford University Library's Test for Fair Use
This website provides a succinct test with which you can measure fair use.
How to Register a Work With the U.S. Copyright Office
Share Your Work with Others
in a predefined manner using a Creative Commons License
Music in the Public Domain
Quick Reference
Google Sites
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