Copyright is a legal protection for writers, artists, or
anyone who creates a tangible work. The copyright is fixed the moment the work created, whether or not paperwork is
filed with a government agency. The work is not required to state copyright or ©.
What does this mean for us as digital artists?
- First, anything we create to the point that it can be
saved on a hard-drive or printed (the "tangible" part) is copyrighted to us—and that anything others create is copyrighted to them.
- Second, that work cannot be copied or reproduced
without our expressed permission. That
applies even if we publish it on the Web. A graphic on a webpage is just as much the intellectual property of the
artist as if it was hanging in a major museum—or on a wall in her own
house.
- Third, the copyright belongs to the artist even if the
artwork itself is sold. Ownership of a
piece of artwork does NOT convey the copyright to the owner—it stays with the
creator.
In Beginner's Workshop, the rule is very simple: you may not use copyrighted material. That's all! Beginner's Workshop has resources for copyright-free photos and
objects that you are welcome to use.
As stated in the Workshop guidelines, projects submitted
using copyrighted images will not be accepted. This includes works by famous artists, modern-day artists, scanned
calendars, stamps/tubes such as Precious Moments, Ruth Morehead Angels,
House-mouse characters, Anime, or Disney. Even if you have permission to use the
image, it will not be accepted in the Workshop.
Exercise:
- If you have read and understand the above information, please let your mentor know via a post to your mentor's Level 1 forum that you have read the Copyright Information. You may not proceed to the next project until you have completed this step.
- Topic Subject: Project 13 Copyright
PI-I Bulletin Board
