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Copyright is a very
complicated area of law. There is no substitute for individual
advice, however all the information below has been obtained and
verified by two independent and experienced legal sources.
While I have made every
possible attempt to reflect the law accurately at the time of
writing (July 2006), this information should not be taken as an exhaustive
statement of the law and should not be relied upon as such.
Over the past few months I
have become increasingly aware (from my membership of craft
forums) that decoupage sheets are being created with copyrighted
images and original sheets are being copied and e-mailed. Both
these practices are against the law.
Here
is a guide to copyright law:
1.
Copyright is obtained the instant a person creates an image or
piece of written work. They do not have to register it with
anyone or send it to themselves in the post. There is also no
need to display the © symbol on the work.
2. It is wrong to think that if a work is on the internet it is
therefore in the public domain and can be freely copied and
distributed. The copyright holder enjoys certain exclusive
benefits, which include the rights to reproduce, distribute and
display a work. Without the consent of the owner of a copyright,
it is copyright infringement to place the work on the internet
or to download or copy it from the internet.
3. You cannot modify a copyrighted work to create a new work and
then claim you hold the copyright. You cannot claim copyright to
another person's work, no matter how much you change it, unless
you have the owner's consent. It is therefore not possible for a
person who has created a decoupage sheet with an illegally used
image to grant you permission to use it, even for personal use.
4. It is not legal to copy a work, even if you give the
copyright holder full credit.
5. The laws regarding images marked TM (trademark) SM (service
mark) or ® (Registered trademark) are even tougher. For example,
if you used a picture you find on the internet of a famous
cartoon character could get you into trouble if you used it
without permission.
6. It
makes absolutely no difference in law whether you use
copyrighted images just for personal use, for personal profit or
to raise funds for charity. If the copyright holder objects and
takes you to court, the penalties are the same no matter what
you do with the finished item you have made.
7. If you decide to use a copyrighted image and get caught, you
cannot say that you did not realise it was a criminal offence to
do so.
8. It's perfectly okay
to buy decoupage sheets and rubber stamps and use them to
produce cards you want to give to family and friends. Each
company has their own policy regarding if/how many cards you are
allowed to SELL using their decoupage sheets/rubber stamped
images. This is called an Angel policy.
So what is an Angel policy?
It is not true to say that the
products of an angel company are copyright free - an Angel
policy merely outlines the terms of use of it’s product. All
stamp/decoupage designs are copyrighted by their respective
companies. Obviously they want you to use their products but
they also want you to respect their copyright and the time and
money they've spent to bring their designs to the crafting
public.
The
general guidelines of an Angel Policy are:
* If using stamps, please hand-stamp each project individually.
* No mechanical reproduction of any sort is allowed.
* No scanning, no photocopying, no printing of items for resale
or personal use.
* You
must use the original item (i.e you cannot buy a decoupage
sheet, scan it then keep making your own copies).
The exact Angel policy may vary from company to company. Here
are a couple of websites you can use to check the angel policies
of different companies:
http://www.rubberstampinfo.com/x/angel_companies.shtml
http://www.rubberstampinglinks.com/angel-companies.html
Public Domain
Many sites which offer decoupage for download
are doing so because they found an image on the internet, so
therefore it must be in the public domain. This is completely
untrue. Think of 'public domain' in these terms:
Imagine the internet as 'outside'. If you put
something, (for example your car) 'outside' it still belongs to
you, no-one else has the right to take it and do what they like
with it. People who put their work on the internet have not
given everyone permission to take their work and do what they
like with it, no more than you give anyone the right to take
your car by parking it outside.
Under existing copyright laws a work is
protected for 70 years from the end of the year the creator
died. If a work is actually labelled ‘public domain’ then this
is a very broad permission given by the copyright holder. You
may be allowed to do a variety of things with the material
including downloading and copying it. However it should not be
assumed that you can do anything you like with it. You should
always check the public domain statement to see whether what you
want to do with the material is permitted or not.
Using Wrapping Paper to Make Cards
When a
copyright holder makes an item available for sale (i.e a mug,
clock, pencil, wrapping paper etc) they retain full and
exclusive rights over the image they have used. Buying the
wrapping paper does not give a person rights to do what they
like with the image. If you buy ‘character’ wrapping paper to
make a card then again you should first ask and receive
permission from the copyright holder.
Asking Permission
Most of the time it's very
easy to find out who the copyright holder is
for licensed images (e.g. Bob the Builder, Thomas the Tank
Engine etc) by using a simple internet search. If you want
to use a copyrighted image simply contact the copyright holder
BEFORE you do so. They are very helpful people and most of the
time will say yes if it's a card for personal use (not to sell).
If you
cannot get permission because you are unable to find out who the
copyright holder is, or you do not know how to contact them, or
they do not reply to you then you are NOT permitted to use the
image.
Disney
Disney
policies are VERY strict. You may not sell ANYTHING with a
Disney image on it unless you are awarded and pay for an
official Disney licence. All Disney cards should only be made
with official licensed merchandise and be given away only.
Gallery /Website Images
Most
companies will not mind if your cards or scrapbook pages are
displayed on an internet gallery or website because the images
are too small and of too poor quality to be copied by someone
else and re-used. Technically the law is still being broken
unless you have received permission to show a copyrighted image,
but then it's technically still illegal to wheel a pram on the
pavement! If in doubt, please check with the copyright holder.
'Free' decoupage sites
are ripping off the original artist whose talent and skill
created the original work. The artist's work has been stolen
from them, turned into decoupage sheets then posted on the
internet for free download without their consent. They are
entitled to make this stop.
If you would like a printable version of
this page please click
HERE.
If you have any
further questions on this subject I will be happy to help if I
can. Please feel free to contact me
HERE.
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