Copyright 101
By Kelly | April 9, 2007
It seems people of all ages don’t have a very good understanding of copyright law. As an artist, it’s important to protect your works. Here, I’m going to try and set a few things straight. Keep in mind that the copyright laws in the US vary from some countries, and that the laws have recently undergone a lot of change.
You may already be a winner!
That’s right, believe it or not your art’s probably already copyrighted. How does that work? Under the law established by the Berne Convention, original works of art are automatically copyrighted to their authors. That means you have the right to display, reproduce, create derivative works, sell or license, and take credit for authorship of your work. This applies in all countries that have signed up for the law- there are a few exceptions, such as Taiwan. Currently, copyrights last 70 years past the owner’s lifetime before they revert to ‘public domain.’
Public Domain?
Any works in the ‘public domain’ can be used freely by just about anybody. They’re not protected by copyright laws. Public domain includes old works on which copyright has expired (Moby Dick), things for which the author has written a public domain release on, and works that can’t be copyrighted (like calendars). The internet is not public domain. A lot of clip-art and animated gifs aren’t really free-use, either! The safest way to ensure your works are legal is to use original material.
So what’s this “©” business?
The © is used to indicate copyright ownership, though it’s not necessary to make your work copyrighted. The correct form for copyright notices is “Copyright © (full name) (year).” Adding this to your art and webpages lets others know who owns it, and discourages pirating (stealing content). Windows users: to use the © symbol, hold ALT and type ‘0169′
Copyrighting Characters
Technically, you CAN NOT copyright a character! However, you can copyright images of a character, or literary works about a character. In that way your character can be protected. Characters/mascots can be Trademarked for business use, but that requires paperwork and it isn’t free.
Can I copyright my story?
Literary works are copyrighted as well, but only if they’re in ‘tangible form’. In other words, you have to write at least an outline for it to count. Did you also know that web pages are considered literary works? Although you can’t copyright the actual code, unless it’s a program you’ve written, the content is copyrighted.
Copyright Infringement
Infringement is simply someone impinging on the copyright holder’s rights. Even if the artist sells their painting or other original work, they still retain their copyright upon it, unless they have signed a contract stating otherwise. Modifying or tracing someone else’s art violates the owner’s right to create derivative works. You can’t copy or sell someone else’s works, either. And fanfiction/fanart? That’s a derivative work, definitely not legit!
Infringement Online
If you find another person infringing your copyrights online, you have a few options. First, you can email the site’s owner and request the offending material be removed. Chances are they’ll comply once you explain how your copyright applies. If that fails to produce results, contact the service that hosts the offender’s website, or contact the offender’s ISP. If your claim is well-documented then it’s possible that the host or ISP will remove the offending site or even boot the offender offline. If that fails, you can take legal action, but that will require a legally registered copyright. In most cases the scale of the crime simply doesn’t merit the time and expense of a lawsuit.
More Info About Copyright
What is copyright?
10 Big Myths
US Copyright Office
R.I.G.H.T.S for artists
Topics: Tips and tricks | 12 Comments »
June 1st, 2009 at 3:12 am
How exactly do you prove that your picture was stolen? Do you create a copy of the picture after it is scanned, and then archive the original and never edit it, so that the comp. shows that it was created on such a date? Or, do comps. always show that, and would a judge/jury take that as evidence?!? I have a few characters that I’m gonna put in my brand new Anthro Comic, Furr Sure, and I don’t want them stolen…I was just wondering…plz help!
May 12th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
A bit of a different question. I am a firefighter and our station created a logo that centers around a personal re-creation of Spiderman wearing fire gear. Does that involve a copyright infringement or do we need to continue to try and get permission to use the likeness? Finding the right person to talk to at Marvel has proved quite difficult.