The Complexities of Copyright

Understanding copyright

An essential part of working professionally as an illustrator is understanding copyright. Found Georgina Hounsome's talk on copyright really useful. Having looked at it from a writer/journalist's point of view over my working life, it was interesting to see how internet, social media and the copyright law itself has changed over the years. When I first started working copyright lasted a lifetime and 50 years before it was released into the public domain. Now it is 70 years.

Who owns copyright?

Everything that is created is copyrighted, but there are certain groups such as Copy Left who are battling to push for the defending and not stifling of creativity. In a short video, one quote which stood out was this: "knowledge should not be locked up. If you want to see further, you need to be able to climb on the shoulders of giants."

The Illustrator's Guide to Law and Business

*  copyright law stops people copying other people's work, unless the creator of the work sells his/her copyright

*  unless you are an employee, you own the copyright – a person on work experience invented the tick for NIKE but didn’t own the copyright

*  copyright lasts for a life time and 70 years after death before being released in public domain (unless someone buys the copyright)

*  Copyright does not apply to similarities that happen by chance or accidentally incorporate someone's work eg photograph capturing a piece of art work on wall

*  Sculptures in public places are not copyrighted, but plans for buildings are

Three major tips

*  best not to sell copyright; read contracts carefully

*  Always use own reference material

*  If you want to use someone else's work, ask permission and get it in writing

Always ask "am I passing off an idea as my own?"

Penalties

*  if someone steals one of your images or you use someone else's there are penalties:

*  Guilty party would have to pay license fee, possibly profits for the job or in worse case scenario destroy the work.

How to keep your own copyright

*  only grant permission for specific use and bare in mins purpose, territory and time frame

Photographs

*  not allowed to copy a photograph off the internet. You can use it for information, but copying someone else's photograph is copyright

FAIR USE - you can use images for teaching, reviews, commentary, research, library archiving etc

Creative Commons - an organisation that has relicensed some works that you can use in some way

Attribution - can use but need to recognise original author

Share Alike - can use but publish under same copyright as original

Non-commercial - can use for personal use only

No derivative words

Copy Left - you can use any image that they have produced as long as you don't copyright that image. Maintains a freedom to create and to continue to create

Where to find copyright free references

*  Wikicommons - copyright sign with a cross through it

*  Morgue File - free reference imagery

*  Dover Publications - anthologies of  Edwardian illustrations etc. You can use up to 10 from each book free of charge

To protect images on blog, best way is to use low res so it can't be printed.

As Georgina concluded, perhaps the key point in all this is getting THE BALANCE BETWEEN BEING CAREFUL AND TRUSTING PEOPLE