copyright

Copyright on Images found on Internet

August 12, 2013 /

I tell this over and over and over again until the infringers and thieves understand.

This issue has been going on forever and many people are not aware about copyright or do not really understand the meaning of Copyright. Or do not understand the meaning at all.

According to Encarta Dictionary:

copyright [ kóppi r?t ] – creative artist’s control of original work: the legal right of creative artists or publishers to control the use and reproduction of their original works.

Basically, copyright automatically protects images found on websites. Artists do not have to register their works in order to protect them and a copyright symbol or notice does not have to be included with an image in order for it to be protected.

don't play play, ok

While browsing the Internet looking for reading material, I found this great article by Brad Templeton, 10 Big Myths about Copyright Explained. Brad gives full consent to share about this issue.

Here are some myths that I copied that I thought relevant to my context:

1) If it doesn’t have a copyright notice, it’s not copyrighted. The default you should assume for other people’s works is that they are copyrighted and may not be copied unless you know otherwise. There are some old works that lost protection without notice, but frankly you should not risk it unless you know for sure. It is true that a notice strengthens the protection, by warning people, and by allowing one to get more and different damages, but it is not necessary. If it looks copyrighted, you should assume it is. This applies to pictures, too. You may not scan pictures from magazines and post them to the net, and if you come upon something unknown, you shouldn’t post that either.

2) If you don’t charge for it, it’s not a violation. False. Whether you charge can affect the damages awarded in court, but that’s main difference under the law. It’s still a violation if you give it away — and there can still be serious damages if you hurt the commercial value of the property.

3) If it’s posted to Internet, it’s in the public domain. False. Nothing modern and creative is in the public domain anymore unless the owner explicitly puts it in the public domain(*). Explicitly, as in you have a note from the author/owner saying, “I grant this to the public domain.” Those exact words or words very much like them.

4) It doesn’t hurt anybody — in fact it’s free advertising. It’s up to the owner to decide if they want the free ads or not. If they want them, they will be sure to contact you. Don’t rationalize whether it hurts the owner or not, ask them. Usually that’s not too hard to do.

I am pledging to all bloggers to help me bust this infringement issue. Here is a banner you can share on your blog. You may also copy this article and link it back here. You may also share this article on twitter and facebook.

To share this banner; just copy paste the code below on your sidebar:

photo copyright-campaign.jpg

<a href="https://emilayusof.com/2013/08/copyright-on-images-found-on-internet/" target="_blank"><img src="https://i448.photobucket.com/albums/qq205/emilayusof/copyright-campaign.jpg" border="0" alt=" photo copyright-campaign.jpg"/></a>

11 Comments

  • David Hogan Jr (@MalaysiaAsia)

    August 14, 2013 at 12:34 pm

    Emila, I feel your frustration as it has happened to my photography works many times before. Anyway, you should take action to those posting images and the F&N one, take it to the corporate department and tell them you want to take action about the artwork displays and so on. Don’t call them, go to the corp-comm office.

    The Smile Hotel issue, I would contact them and speak to the owner or marketing person, tell them they are infringing your copyrights and you want to take action on this matter. Do it FAST so that they know you mean business.

    You’ve been doing amazing work since I met you and I think you should make your stand verbally too. All the best!

  • Syuq

    August 22, 2013 at 5:04 pm

    Teruskan usaha K.Em! Saya juga tak tahu sebelum ni. Saya belajar dan dapat tahu dari blog K.Em. Saya yakin ramai pembaca blog K.Em juga dapat maklumat yang sama.

  • Niha

    November 1, 2013 at 5:24 pm

    Salam.

    A friend told me about your copyright issues. And I’m facing the same issue. Apparently Malaysians are not aware of copyright infringement. Dah suruh delete, marah-marah katanya ilmu tu milik Allah. Pahala tak sampai lah itu ini. Tapi bab gunakan barang orang lain takde pulak mereka mention. So typical kan?

    I am so annoyed with these people.

  • emila

    November 5, 2013 at 12:16 am

    It protects our images but you knowlah those ignorant ones, they prefer not to read CC and and just copy like the whole images on the Internet are theirs.

  • Yukino Hinata

    June 20, 2014 at 9:43 pm

    it’s quite a serious issue for artists and designers out there. please take note. and thanks for sharing this kak emi. i’ll be more careful to post my artworks online eventhough i’m no artist huhu