[Jabberwocky]

Okay I know you guys are hot on the top of copy righting your stuff... how exactly do you get stuff copy righted? I'm starting to have my stuff used publicly and I don't want it getting jacked by some of the lame-o ass holes in my city that are too cheep to higher me and feel it's better to take my stuff and use it as their own.
Anyways on the last forum where the guy stole people from here's work... how would that help him? He's now caught so will anyone high someone who stole others work?

[anticz]

I don't claim to be a Lawer or even look like one so don't quote me on this. As far as I know, an image becomes copyrighted the first time it is printed or publicly displayed. However, this type of copyright does not provide with full legal protection (ie. it is very difficult to sue someone for lost money or work, you can however get a court to order them to stop using your work). For full copyright protection you must file a formal copyright with the US copyright office at the Library of Congress which you can find here.
http://lcweb.loc.gov/copyright/

Copyright laws are extremly complex and convoluted. If you are ever in dought or something is unclear, always consult a lawer who specializes in copyright law.

As for Josh Gans (worthy), I'd say he's pretty much fucked in this industry. I certainly would not hire him.



------------------
=======================
Mike B. - Supervising Janitor
anticz.com
=======================

[LazRath]

well the way i learned it is that if you put your name(your signature), the date(just the year is fine), and a copyright symbol(the c with the circle around it). however not a fully legal copyright it does show an intent to copyright which hopefully should keep others from blantly using your work
If you want to more details the link anticz posted above is your best bet

[This message has been edited by LazRath (edited March 29, 2001).]

[Enayla]

Copyrighting always depends highly on where you live. I'm Swedish, thus my work is protected by Swedish laws... There's something in Sweden called "Upphovsr�tt" which makes a picture basically copyrighted to me the moment I make it.

And because the "upphovsr�tt" (um, I'm not sure how that'd translate... "creative right"?) is mine, people can't use my pictures in any way, unless it's for private viewing.

Or something of the same sort. I don't /need/ to put my name on it, nor the date, nor anything else - the pictures are simply mine and that's it.

As for any proof that they're mine... I have the full, huge, layered photoshop versions on my hd. I think that'd be proof enough - I never give those away.

Aaah... it's early, I ramble... I'm not sure if the law is the same over where you live at though.


------------------
��.You have a kind of sick desperation in your laugh.��

[This message has been edited by Enayla (edited March 30, 2001).]

[spooge demon]

Something is copyrighted as soon as it has "tangible form." An old trick that might not work anymore is to make something, put it in an envelope and mail it to yourself. The postmark is legally acceptable. Not sure why.

There are international variations that Enayla has pointed out. I have seen some stuff in Japan that would have been actionable in the states, but not there.

I wonder if it ever becomes criminal? Now you can sue and win if you can show damages, but that is a long road.

1)perp has to have money
2)you have to prove damages from said theft
3)you have to prove it was lifted (if they changed it a little you have problems)
4)if all of the above goes well, you have to collect, and evil minded fellows are usually good at hiding assets.
5)Spending thousands on a lawyer to pursue this thing makes it difficult if you can show profit when money is collected.

Usually what happens is you play chicken with them. "I have more money and time than you and I will drain your pockets to defend yourself." So it is usually settled out of court. Sometimes with lead pipes

[somethingwonderful]

Definitely consult a lawyer.

However, there is an automatic copyright for anything that you create and publish first. That means that anything you put up online and say "This is mine. I made this." (either in other words or a copyright tag notice...check out CNN's copyright notice at the bottom of every page if you want an example), is automatically defaulted to you. Nobody can legally use it without your permission. You don't have to actually file papers. Publishing something gives you full authority over that "product" or "piece", so to speak. The only way that somebody can take that away from you is if you sell it (or give it freely) to a person. Publishing online is no different than publishing on paper due to the telecommunications act recently passed by congress in the late 90's. 1996, I believe it was (I was a photojournalist covering that part of congressional bills at the time for Congressional Quarterly Magazine). Anyway, what it basically says is that it extends full creative copyright to anyone who publishes in electronic media over any carrier lines (updated to include the internet). You should still check with a lawyer if you are gravely concerned, but the general rule is that no one can use anything that you create without your permission that you publish online. :)

Traveling Uncle Nat. :)

[Jabberwocky]

So as soon as I print it and give it to the customer and it has been put up it is copy righted to me.

Next question. like if you make a logo and it is given to a customer is it still copy righted to you too. I know the customer gets rights, but do you still have rights to it too?

------------------
Hell doesn't scare me...
I scare Hell!

[eureka]

Most of my clients don't mind if I use a design to promote myself but I usually put a line or two in a contract for a little more protection.

[Frost]

I've heard of that posting yourself method before. I assume it works because it's a federal offense to tamper with mail, and the date stamp from that federal institution on that package is good enough to stand up in court.

[Jabberwocky]

i had heard about the mailing yourself before and wonder if that's all I really needed to do. Or if I had to file somewhere or what. I'm new to having people use my work for their company and stuff like that. I want to take all precaution from the beginning.

------------------
Hell doesn't scare me...
I scare Hell!

[Snake Grunger]

spooge - Yes, I've seen alot of things changed when Japanese products, like anime or video games, are released in stores or on TV here. Sometimes name changes, like "M. Bison" for a black boxer, sounds too much like Mike Tyson, so they swaped the names and gave some other guy the name M. Bison, but not a boxer, in fear of a lawsuit.. Also, in Final Fight (another video game), they took out all the female gang members, because apparently it's bad to have women beat up by tough men on the screen. Another example is in another fighting game Streets of Rage (called Bare Knuckles in Japan, maybe not chagned for copyright issues but maybe to have a better appeal to the american consumers), they removed this one character that was a stereotype gay person you beat up.

Anyway, this is more of a "censure" thing rather than a "lawsuit", but it still remains that alot of Japanese products are chagned in order to be "politically correct" here in the United States (well I should say America), but that in Japan they don't really care or think it's bad.

It surprises me still there is absolutely no Japanese people on Sijun.. They have some of the best artists, working on anime and video games, but my guess is that they don't have enough free time to participate in message boards like this one, since Japan is reknowned to be populated with workaholics, working from 8 to... midnight, sometimes 6 days a week. I think they are also very secluded, and hang around their own 'kind', rather than exposing their techniques and work to strangers.

[This message has been edited by Snake Grunger (edited March 30, 2001).]

[Jezebel]

Someone here posted a really cool image a while back and while browsing her site I came across this link... maybe it will help you?

http://aimee.wyvernweb.com/copyright/



Beth

------------------
Take off your clothes. It's OK - I'm an artist.

http://div.dyndns.org/FOO
http://div.dyndns.org/beth/photography

[kerosene]

The link above is really good.

Exactly as the swedish guy said. The moment something is created you have the rights. The extra stuff is to make it easier in case of problems to proof that you did it.

But what do these copyright things really protect you against? It is good for paintings, photographs and other images. But it doesn't protect ideas.

I study product design and a real world prduct is very difficult to protect. A design ian't patented and manufactured object are not "art" with really minor changes you can straight steal others designs. Patents work only on technical ideas.

e.g. someone actually designed the first injection molded garden chair. No there are dozens of variations made by several companies. What can you do?

So if you put a cool space craft here and someone makes 3d model for a game from it I am afraid you are having problems.

Heikki Anttila

------------------
heikki anttila
-----------------------
http://www.projectkerosene.com

[pixualize]

quote:

---

Originally posted by eureka:
Most of my clients don't mind if I use a design to promote myself but I usually put a line or two in a contract for a little more protection.

---

Yes - and if others out there are looking for some example contracts, this is a good place to start: http://www.gag.org/contracts/contracts.html
Of course these don't take the place of consulting with a lawyer, they do give you a good example of what to look for to protect yourself.

I agree that since logos are a "work for hire" type of contract it's best to work out the details of how you will be using their logo to promote yourself before setting pencil to tablet.

------------------
Pixualize Arts
http://www.pixualize.com/
Digital Realization � Traditional Results

[Frost]

Thanks for the nice link Jezebel - very interesting.

[starfish]

yo Jabberwocky

you can find lotsa nice advices
at guru.com.
try out the link below to get you started: http://Guru.com/channel/start/start_ask_expert.jhtml

good luck =)

[Jabberwocky]

thanks you guys. It's just this is so new and I'm planning on starting a freelance thing with a few friends, and as I had stated there's a place here in town that wanted me to work for them but was going to play really crappy... about $5.50/hour... they have taken some of my work already and used as their own. I mainly want to protect my stuff from this.

About the changing the art - if I take pictures from a few sites and make a single colodge picture is that okay?

------------------
Hell doesn't scare me...
I scare Hell!

[frostfyre]

One area of copyright and intellectual property law is "work for hire". This is something to be aware of before heading into certain commisions or even taking studio positions.

Under "work for hire", if your work is part of a collaborative effort, underwritten by a third party, that party which hired you owns the work. Unless you work this out seperately, this tends to be the "default" arrangement for artists working at game companies, animation and special effects houses. Many of these places care primarily about the work you create for them, and nothing else. Some actually go to the extreme of saying you cannot create any work and claim it as your own for the duration of your employment at that firm.

As an example- VFX artists working on the "Lord of the Rings" or "Star Wars" flick won't "own" any of the imagery they generate, because it is work for hire. Fair use indicates that they can display the work as part of their portfolio, once their respective NDA's have cleared out, but even then only with the proper copyrights, etc, displayed.

As far as using other peoples work in a collage, it seems that these days, accepted practice is to obtain permission, and give credit to each individual if you are going to do this. I assume you are talking about artwork, and not stock photography. Stock photos & images often come with their own entanglements, which vary by company.


Anyway, that's my 50� worth!

frostfyre