Sunday, November 05, 2006

Sunday Night.................

It's been a few days since my last blog.....spending time with my family and taking a well needed break.....but I am back and ready to start working! Of course it helps that I don't have to punch a time clock ;)....I LOVE working at home and making my own hours....:)

I've had a TON of emails lately from people asking about copyright laws.....I've had some lady on eBay who copies all of my work, then calls it her own designs........I TOTALLY understand that we all get ideas from each other...tips, tricks, etc., but to outright COPY ANYONES work, whether it be their art work or whatever is STEALING!!!!! And I can NOT STAND a THIEF! It really makes me mad to see someone like this "lady" (Term used for lack of a better word to describe this hateful person), copies not ONE, but ALL of my original work, then denies it! Says she never looked at my things....Yeah, right!! LOL! Not only does she steal, but she also lies! What a winner!!!!! :) I had no choice but to turn her in to VERO through eBay and have her auctions removed.
ANYWAY............................I thought I would list a few FAQ's about copyright laws and how they have changed since the Internet came along :)
Q.When is my work protected?
A.Your work is under copyright protection the moment it is created and fixed in a tangible form that it is perceptible either directly or with the aid of a machine or device. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. (This law was changed because of all of the people on the WWW who can simply copy and paste and steal your artwork!)

Q.What is protected by copyright law?
A.Your artwork is your intellectual property, and it is protected by copyright law.
Your art (graphics, photos, music, art, sculptures, toys, dolls, paintings, etc.) becomes protected by copyright when you take it from an idea or concept and make it into something fixed and tangible. The basic requirements that a work of art must meet to qualify for copyright protection are:
It must be original. The artwork must be original, not copied from anything else.
It must be creative. The artwork must show at least a minimum amount of creativity.
It must be fixed in a tangible medium. The artwork must be fixed in one of these tangible mediums—in its digital state as 1s and 0s; paintings and drawings; original music; your original artworks scanned into your computer; artwork you have created using bit-mapped or vector drawing, painting, or photo-manipulation programs or any combination of these digital media; buttons and graphics, cartoons, illustrations, and original writing that you have created for your Web site and that reside on your Web site.
The list is extensive, though not complete. If you can see or touch your artwork, with or without the aid of a machine or device, no matter what its medium, it qualifies as being fixed in a tangible medium of expression. And you own it and the copyrights to it.

I'll be adding more on this subject in the future......It is time for bed here in Tennessee, so I have to sign out :).....................Until next time...............be safe!!!

0 comments: