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What Copyright Means to You
Keep in mind I’m not a lawyer but as a photographer and web designer copyright
is very important to me. I don’t care if you’re a small business person buying
stock photography or an amateur photographer printing free articles. You need to
know a little about copyright and what it means to you.
Copyright can be applied to all forms of art, design, even performance art.
Whomever owns the copyright to a particular form of art is the person who holds
all, and I mean all rights, to that work. When I copyright my photography I do
it to protect it from everyone else. With a copyright I am the only person with
the right to reproduce, sell, change, distribute, or even destroy the work. I
can sell the image but not the copyright to it. This means that you purchase the
one time, or limited time, use of that image but the copyright is still mine.
You cannot reproduce the image as your own, sell it as your own, or distribute
it as your own, you cannot destroy or dismantle it and use parts of it in
something created by you.
Keep in mind that when a piece of art is copyrighted you must also NEVER remove
the copyright. This is to insure that you give appropriate credit for the work
to the artist who owns the copyright.
You’ve probably wondered why one of my criteria for my articles is that my
biography information, that has a copyright mark and link to my site, must be
included when you print my articles or use them on your site. For one this is
the proof of copyright. I am the original creator of these articles and even
though you may use the article I am the copyright holder. You cannot use part of
my articles, reproduce them or distribute them without my permission.
Copyright can also extend further into appropriate use of art. I always check
where my work is going and what they are going to use it for. For example you
cannot use my stock photography in a logo for your company. Why you may ask?
Well a logo is the copyright of your company. My copyright exists before yours
and by incorporating my copyrighted work into your logo you are attempting to
take ownership of my work.
These are just the basics of course. I’ve dealt specifically with issues that
I’ve encountered. If you need more information an internet search of the word
copyright will lead you to the U.S. Government’s web page that has tons of
information available in a surprisingly easy to read format.
Copyright 2005 Kelly Paal
Kelly Paal is a Freelance Nature and Landscape Photographer, exhibiting
nationally and internationally. She started her own business Kelly Paal
Photography. She has an educational background in photography, business, and
commercial art. Please visit www.kellypaalphotography.com for more FREE how to
articles.
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