What to Do if Someone Posts Your Art Without Permission
Copyright Questions and Answers for Artists
by Sarah Feingold, Esq.
Disclaimer: The following information does not institute legal advice. The reader assumes all responsibleness for the use or misuse of the information. The writer shall not exist held liable for any losses or damages arising from the apply of any of this information. Due to possible amendments to the copyright constabulary, the information presented here may change with time. The author reserves the correct to make changes and assumes no responsibility on behalf of the reader. Consult a licensed attorney in your expanse for specific advice.
Q: What does a copyright registration entitle me to?
A: Copyright registration provides the best evidence of a valid copyright, establishes a public record, and enables you to take legal activity against copyright infringement. It does not provide absolute protection from infringement, nor does it guarantee fame and fortune.
Q: Copyright protection is automatic once a work is "stock-still" (completed), so why register with the U.s.a. Copyright Office?
A: You lot receive a Document of Registration that establishes a public tape that is the unmarried all-time show of a valid copyright. It also allows you lot to take legal action confronting copyright infringement. If you register inside 3 months of publication and before someone infringes on your work, yous have a meliorate chance of collecting certain damages and chaser's fees in court. If registration occurs within five years of publication, this is also considered fantabulous prove in a court of police force. Copyright registration is as well beneficial for licensing purposes.
Q: What is a "poor human's copyright?"
A: A poor man'due south copyright is the practice of mailing a copy of your work to yourself and not opening the envelope when y'all receive information technology. At that place is no provision in the copyright law or the practices of the Copyright Function regarding whatsoever type of protection known as the "poor man's copyright." Many people believe that this is an affordable culling to copyright registration, but it isn't. It tin can be easily faked and I take however to hear of a "poor human being'south copyright" success story.
Q: How do I obtain an international copyright?
A: In that location is no such affair as an international copyright. However, due to certain agreements like the Berne Convention and the Universal Copyright Conversion, many, merely not all, countries accolade United States copyrights. For questions apropos a specific land, consult an expert in foreign copyright police force.
Q: How do I know if a work past another party has copyright protection?
A: Copyright protection attaches automatically once a work is "stock-still" (completed); no copyright markings or notices are necessary. Generally, if the work does non say otherwise or y'all are not sure of the age of a piece of work, you're generally safe in assuming that it has copyright protection. You may choose to search the Copyright Function catalogs and records in many libraries to encounter whether a work is in fact copyrighted. Or y'all can do it in person at the Library of Congress, James Madison Memorial Building, 101 Independence Avenue SE, Washington, DC 20559-6000. The Copyright Office staff can also practice a search for you for a fee. The Copyright Role does not offer search assistance over the Internet.
Q: What if I want to utilize someone else's work in my ain?
A: Generally, if a work is copyrighted and not in the public domain, you should definitely ask permission before yous using it. However, there are many defenses, similar the fair utilize defense (borrowing but pocket-sized portions of the work for purposes such equally commentary, criticism, news reporting, or scholarly reports), that may help an artist. If you are not sure who owns the copyright, do some research (run across Q/A above). Besides look to see if the work is under a licensing contract. There are literally hundreds of companies that purchase and sell art licenses.
Q: Will I accept to pay to apply someone else's work?
A: That depends. Some artists capeesh the publicity and freely grant yous permission to use their work. Others might opt to charge you.
Q: What do I do if I think someone has infringed on my copyright?
A: As the holder of the copyright, information technology is your duty to police your piece of work. If you find someone has violated one of your exclusive rights, you decide how to keep. If y'all believe that your copyright has been infringed on, you lot anticipate a legal dispute, and you don't have a U.s. copyright registration on the works, become one. A Document of Registration (or a rejection of an awarding for copyright) is a prerequisite for U.s. authors, including artists, who want to sue for copyright infringement in federal district courtroom.
Before taking legal action, you tin can explain the problem to the other political party and ask them to enter into a licensing agreement. Or you could politely ask then to end. You could likewise choose to ignore the issue all together. In any case, yous may desire to consult an attorney. You may exist entitled to costless legal advice from Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts.
Continue in mind that ideas are by and large gratuitous to exist copied, though the line that divides ideas from expression tin can be difficult to define. Copyright does non protect facts, processes, utilitarian aspects of a design or simple shapes. Also, copyright protection does not preclude another author from creating independently authored, even so identical, works.
Q: Can I use part of someone'south work if I alter the work?
A: In general, yous may not apply someone else's work without their consent no matter how much yous change it. However, under the fair use defence, y'all may use pocket-size portions of a piece of work for purposes such as commentary, criticism, news reporting, or scholarly reports. Under the "de minimis" doctrine (see Q/A beneath) an individual may use a portion of the work if the declared copying is extremely trivial. Go along in listen that these defenses are usually very difficult to evidence.
Q: Can I employ a tiny flake of another person's copyrighted piece of work?
A: According to the "de minimis" doctrine, an private may use a portion of the piece of work if the alleged copying is piddling. The test is whether an average audience (or jury) would recognize that office of the work every bit a qualitatively and quantitatively significant portion of the copyright holder'due south piece of work as a whole. The less significant, the more probable the use will exist allowed. There is no standardized test for determining a de minimis use.
Q: What if I want to brand a collage?
A: Copyright laws apply to collages. The easiest way to avert copyright issues is to simply use materials you ain (for case, your ain drawings), copyright-costless or public domain materials, works you take permission to use, or images licensed with a Creative Commons derivatives/commercial use license.
Q: If I put my piece of work online, can someone steal it?
A: Posting your work online may brand y'all feel like you're encouraging copying, but the benefits are that the resulting Internet traffic may be great for exposure or sales. Many people will of course run across your work, and though you may feel like the exposure may atomic number 82 to copying, you have to reconcile that with the upside potential. The alternative and merely sure way to ensure no one will ever be influenced by your artwork or tempted to re-create it is to either never create whatever artwork at all or if you do create, to never show it in public-- neither of which make a whole lot of sense.
For more information, visit Sarah Feingold'south website Copyright for Artists.
(art by Cornelius Völker)
Source: https://www.artbusiness.com/copyright-questions-answers-for-artists.html
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