Copyright Information-Educate Yourself!
Many people are not aware of current copyright laws in the United States (and Internationally), especially with regards to electronic images. The following document was put
together by Sarah Skinner, one of my fellow artists at Epilogue.net. It pretty much sums up, in easy to chew, bite-sized morsels, what you, as a client, should know about electronic images produced by us, the artists. (BTW,
please make sure to scroll all the way to the bottom to see my Rules for Images on this Site. No excuses for not reading it, now.)
First, here are some clarifications you should all understand regarding the Internet:
1.The Internet is NOT public domain. Public domain is defined as
"any work published in the United States before 1923… (or)… published before 1964 and copyright was not renewed." That's it. Nothing else is public domain. This means you cannot "find" art on the internet to chop and use as
graphics on your website or distribute to your clients. 2. The Internet is a form of 3. The internet is a form of Copyright laws protect the original artists' right to have FULL control over PUBLISHING and DISTRIBUTION of their art and are enacted the moment a person creates their art. It also protects artists (ALL artists, not
just certain ones) from having their art modified by anyone else (including "tubers" and "web designers"). By posting ANY art on the internet (modified or intact) you are PUBLISHING and DISTRIBUTING that art to the
public. And regardless of whether or not you are "claiming" ownership of the piece, and regardless of whether or not you are making a profit off the pieces, if you post an image on the net that you yourself didn't create, that you
don't legally hold the copyright to, or that you don't have permission from the copyright holder to use, YOU ARE BREAKING THE LAW.
This is becoming a serious concern among many art communities. The practice of people
chopping up our hard work and offering it to the masses unless we are on some "no-no list" is hurting our industry. And while there are sites that are trying to keep things legal, I haven't seen a copyright FAQ on a tube
or graphic site YET that has gotten the above facts about copyright laws correct.
As the popularity and proliferation of illegally copied art continues the value of art itself declines. Copyright law is the only thing that
protects artists and encourages them to create new work. And when people ignore, misinterpret, or circumvent the law, the artists are the ones who suffer. So, if people truly respect the hard work of artists and want us to be able
to continue doing our art, then they MUST achieve a better understanding of the full extent of copyright laws and take it upon themselves to see to it that those laws are obeyed.
For more information on US copyright laws, visit
http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html
http://www.pdimages.com/law/10.html-ssi
And of course:
http://www.copyright.gov
Rules for images on this website: Needless to say, anyone caught publishing or distributing my artwork when they do not have my permission to do so will be killed and fed to
lawyers. If you have seen any of my artwork being published, distribited or sold under any name other than Marie Rosé or my screenname gyrfalconthegray, PLEASE
Images that have been previously distributed for public use at the NeverwinterVault, or that are distributed
in those areas on this site designated as "free downloads", may be used in their unaltered form for the purpose for which they were created (portraits for the game NeverwinterNights, avatars for RPGs, or desktop wallpaper.) They
may not be used for any other purpose without permission. All other images on this site are not to be used in any manner without permission in accordance with US Copyright Law. To request permission to use any image,
please e-mail
me indicating the image in question and proposed intended uses.
