Right click, save. Done.

Permission Free Clip Art Image from Dover Books publication 120 Great Impressionist Paintings Clip Art of an original painting by artist Pierre August-Renoir

I had another post slated for today, but something happened last night and I've decided to post again on the topic of Copyright Infringement. The internet is a fascinating beast, it's created a virtual free for all for intellectual property theft. It is like The Wild West. Right click, save, bingo...you own it. Right? It didn't have a watermark...so it's in the public domain, right?

Wrong.

If someone scans a picture of say Mickey Mouse or Spongebob Squarepants from a book or a cartoon it definitely won't have a watermark. If you download that image and duplicate it and sell it for profit, you've participated in copyright theft. So now there are two cases of copyright infringement. It is no different from walking into someone's home and slipping a vase you like into your purse. It's theft.

If you buy a pirated copy of a designer bag or shoes or hat, you've participated in copyright theft. Yeah, it's so much cheaper and you could never afford the real thing and shouldn't you have a right to own it? Nope.

Lots of people are doing it. They do it on eBay. They do it in Etsy. They do it on uBid. They do it at craft fairs and flea markets. So chances are, with the massive amounts of copyright infringement occurring on a daily basis on the internet and beyond, if you steal an image and copy it and use it in your art or sell it as a component to be used in someone elses art, you probably won't get caught. If you copy someone's work and sell it, you probably won't get caught. Though I can tell you that bigger companies like Disney and Nickelodeon and estates of celebrities like Elvis and Marilyn Monroe are diligent in seeking out this kind of stuff and prosecuting. If you do get caught, you could be in for an expensive lawsuit. No matter how you justify it, I can guarantee you the court will decide in their favor.

So just for clarity's sake I'm going to again explain the difference between recycling and stealing. If you physically cut out a printed image from a magazine, book, record cover or other printed form and you use it in your collage work...that's recycling. That being said, if you do you are still potentially infringing on copyrights, but there are fair use cases that have argued that these derivative works are acceptable. So it's a tricky situation that bears serious consideration and reflection and one I need to visit myself. If you copy or scan that image and use it or even manipulate it in Photoshop and sell that for profit or post it on the internet without proper attribution, you have stolen intellectual property.

Copyright protection in the United States lasts for 100 years or the artist's life plus 70 years unless the copyright is renewed. So unless you're using a public domain image from 1910 or earlier or an image that has been officially placed in the public domain or is sold by a reputable source as permission free (Dover Books has a huge selection of fabulous permission free images) then you are breaking copyright law. Copyright protection in Europe lasts for 70 years, so you can use European images from 1930 and earlier. Just because you can't find the copyright holder through a Google search, doesn't make it legal. Things are only in the public domain if the copyright holder has allowed them to be. That's why I use a lot of Victorian images in my work. That's why I collect ephemera from 1930s and before in Europe and from the Victorian era in the US. If it's protected by copyright, I will only use the original cut out printed page in a design, if not, I can scan and copy it and reuse it.

It's a fine line.

When I was working on my first book I contacted the estates of Frida Kahlo and Georgia O'Keefe about using tiny scanned images from their artworks in a bracelet I created as a tribute to them. I really didn't fully understand copyright law back then, but I did know I needed permission to use their art in my design. They contacted me back with a resounding no. So for those of you who use Frida's work in your designs, her estate is not okay with that. They have and they will prosecute.

People download music, buy pirated music and videos, take ideas, blog posts and images from the internet and resell them or repost them or repurpose them. I do not buy pirated music or videos or feel it's okay to download music illegally. That's my personal feeling, but let me state that I am guilty of the right click, save and the use of copyrighted images in work I've created for personal use. That's not illegal. Personal use is different from resale, redistribution...but still. I'm not fully without sin myself and I'm thinking deeply about these things today.

The reason I'm writing this post is because I stumbled on to someone on eBay selling images of some famous attractive diminutive cartoon horses that she'd copied and printed and cut out into circles to sell for mixed media use. I figured she didn't know and since it was a fairly well known set of images, I shot her a quick message both to offer her a warning and also to see what goes on inside the head of someone who does this sort of thing. Oh, she knew. She was very defensive and upset that I'd singled her out because millions of other people were doing it. This is her justification...which blew my mind by the way...she is selling the physical scanning, formatting, printing and cutting of the images and not the images themselves.

What?

Uh, people are buying the images. We can all cut out circles from paper and if we're really craft savvy we know that there are fabulous circle punches that make very quick work of cutting out circles. She also told me that lots of folks were doing it online and elsewhere and she removes anything if she is contacted by the company that owns the images. Uh, so if she gets caught she takes things down? Nice.

So does she steal stuff from her local shopping mall or from her friend's houses? Does she say to herself, "Lots of folks shoplift. If I get caught I'll give it back." Does she understand that if she gets caught she'll give it back and possibly go to jail?

Intellectual property is property. Think deeply about that fact. Ask yourself if you'd steal a physical object from someone's home or a store. If not, why is it okay to steal someone's creative output? Is it okay to profit from someone else's creativity? It's not.

It's not okay.

Justify it all you want. Good luck with that. But know that you might get caught and if you do it could be a very unfortunate situation.

Cheers,
Madge

Copyrights and Artist's Rights

Permission Free Image Dover Books

I work really hard each and every day to come up with unique and inspiring ideas. My goal in life is to inspire creativity. I love seeing people riff on my ideas, because that’s a dialogue. In the classical music period, musicians had musical dialogues with snippets of music called motifs. They were expanding on each other’s ideas in creative and fascinating ways. Jazz musicians also do this. That’s the sort of dialogue I want to have with my readers. I also love knowing that they’re making the designs I’ve created and enjoying them as is. That’s a really wonderful feeling.

I don’t so much love finding out someone has co-opted my work as their own. That’s...the complete opposite of the point. It’s a subtle distinction, but let me see if I can’t clarify.

My blog, my books and my magazine projects all have a common thread. They’re protected by copyrights. That means if you want to reproduce a project I’ve shared with you for yourself, that’s my intention. I want you to do that! That’s why I make and share projects! If you want to give said project to a friend or family member as a gift, that’s fabulous! But...and here’s the big but...if you want to copy said project and make it into a kit, a class or a design for profit...that’s not okay. It’s okay to take a technique I’ve shown you and make your own unique design and sell that, because then you’ve engaged in a dialogue. Can you see the distinction?

If you copy and paste the picture of my project or an entire post into your blog or on your website without my express permission, that’s also not okay. The internet has created a free for all when it comes to horking intellectual property and I’m here today along with other artists to start staking our claims to our work.

The problem is that everything is so easy to take from the internet, so it seems less wrong to take it freely. It is, however, wrong.

If you copy someone’s art work and sell it for profit, you’re stealing. Do you steal regularly? Do you feel entitled to walk into a store and take things off of the shelves without paying for them? Do you hork stuff from your friends’ houses? If you visit them and see a vase you really like, do you feel entitled to plunk it into your purse?

Intellectual property is property. Artists and musicians and creative people work incredibly hard and they deserve to be paid for their work just like everyone else. Illegally downloading a movie or a song is stealing. Pirating software is stealing. Copying and pasting a copyright protected image into your blog without permission or credit is stealing. Uploading a segment from a TV show to YouTube is stealing. Copying an image that is under copyright, printing it and reproducing it in your artwork is stealing. Copying a design, reproducing it and selling it for profit is stealing. (On a side note it is okay to use images you cut out of books or magazines in collages, it’s just not okay to copy them and use them multiple times. See the difference? One is recycling, the other is theft.)

Anytime you co-opt someone else’s professional creative output for personal gain or profit or even for your personal pleasure without paying for it, you are breaking copyright laws. These laws can be very expensive to enforce, so you may just get away with it. Lots of people do. That doesn’t make it right. Because it is theft and theft isn’t right. It’s becoming a rampant and serious problem with the boom of the internet. People who create for a living have the same right to make a living as everyone else.

I see my work in projects sold to magazines and in ads for manufacturers and even winning design contests, only it’s actually other people copying my work. What incredible audacity it must take to steal someone’s work and claim it as your own. The way I see it, if you aren’t creative enough to make your unique designs or to give due credit when you are inspired by someone else’s work; you probably shouldn’t be selling your work. I’m just sayin’.

This topic gets everyone all kerfuffled. Even artists can’t agree on what is and what is not copyright infringement. If we can’t agree or if we’re so afraid of being unpopular we can’t take a public stand against copycats and copyright infringers...well I’m afraid this sort of activity will continue.

For the record, I am taking a stand. I have no interest in making lazy people easy money. If you want to sell kits, classes, projects for publication or finished goods, use your fertile imagination. I want you to make my designs and wear them and enjoy them. I want you to be inspired by my work to expand into new directions and most of all I want to see you become empowered to make your own unique designs. If you want pictures to post on your blog, take them yourself, use stock photos, permission free images or credit the source, if you’re thinking about taking my pictures or text from my blog or website make sure you ask permission and that if I grant it...you give me credit.

So every time you illegally download a song or a movie or copy software or sell a copy of someone else’s work in your Etsy shop or copy and paste a picture from a Google search into your blog, think about what I just told you. It’s not okay.

If you'd like to participate in educating the public about this topic, please post a blog this week and I will share your link with my readers in a group link post. We can't complain if we aren't willing to take a stand.

Cheers,
Madge

TastyLinks Saturday

It’s a gorgeous day in Amish country and I’m enjoying the view from my studio immensely. I’m busy working on a giant plastic bubble I can take in the yard so I can be outside without being miserable. I’ll let ya know how that works out for me.

I must clean this mess of a studio today. I had some deadlines this week and it got out of control yet again. Plus the files...the files must be filed! Egads the papers pile up quickly, don’t they? Sometimes I feel as if I’m buried in papers.

I wanted to remind everyone that on April 22nd I’ll be posting here about copyrights and internet piracy. I’d love for artists, writers, designers, musicians, directors and a;; creators of intellectual property to chime in on the topic on their blogs. I feel it’s important to educate the public about what is and isn’t acceptable. Just because it’s on the internet, doesn’t mean it’s free for the taking. We can’t complain if we aren’t willing to take a stand. If you post and send me your link, I’ll gather the links into a single post later that week. Email me at theimpatientcrafter@gmail.com with your link.

Jaime Guthals from Interweave asked me to remind everyone that there’s still time to enter this year’s Bead Star competition. The deadline is May 1st. It’s a fun competition because the public votes on the winners. Here’s the link to a video with the 411.

And without further ado, please enjoy this week’s springtastic sampling of TastyLinks™ from the Crafty Bloggers Gang:

Crafty Princess Diaries Become a professional crocheter with the help of an organization designed for those who are interested in make yarn craft a j-o-b.

Cathie Filian Cathie Filian is calling all Colorado crafters! Stop by the Colorado Women's expo April 25th & 26th. She will be doing presentaions on both days - the topic is...Living Creatively by Re-Crafting and Recycling.

Alexa Westerfield a.k.a. Swelldesigner Create a very cool, colorful accent wall on the cheap using scrapbook paper!

Cross Stitch at About.com See how Kitchinstitchin used an old window and a piece of crazy quilt for an unusual framed Cross Stitch project.

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery You'll have a "ball" stitching yarn scraps into beads with a little help from the new book: Strands by Jacqueline Myers-Cho.

The Impatient Crafter Check out the new YuDu home screen printing machine in this brand spanking new The Impatient Crafter video hosted by Madge. While you're there, follow the link to her interview with fellow crafty blogger Sister Diane of CraftyPod on personal branding!

Vickie Howell's Pop Goes Crochet Vickie's latest book, Pop Goes Crochet, hits stores in 2 weeks! Get a sneak peek of 5 accessory projects now though, including designs by The Breeder's Kelley Deal, The Stitch Diva and The Crochet Dude. Give 'em a gander and enter to win a free, signed copy!

The Crochet Dude Drew recaps an amazing Southern Caribbean Crochet Cruise!

Naughty Secretary Club Jen shows you how to wear your stuffed animal collection as a bracelet. Plus enter to win a free copy of her book The Naughty Secretary Club!

CraftyPod Sister Diane reviews Betz White's new book, Sewing Green.

Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world Craftside is in full bloom with an inside look into the soon to be released: Collaborative Art Journals and Shared Visions in Mixed Media by L. K. Ludwig along with a full tutorial on stitching a bird cage on a card, a how-to for embroidering barbed wire, cleaning and cutting Acrylic and how to paint a checkerboard floor.

Blisstree Arts Miriam Schaer makes books from materials that you would never think to use! Come see how she pushes the boundaries of bookmaking.

About Family Crafts Discover many creative projects all made using paper plates.