The web is not some public domain free-for-all!
Learn the copyright laws in regard to website content (text, images and programming). A little common courtesy is all that’s needed to avoid aggravating someone or getting sued. Plus, if you "borrow" something from another website you not only take yourself down, but if you're a professional web designer, you take your client down too.
Recently, a custom map illustration that I commissioned for one of my clients was screen-captured then used on another site. How do I know it was screen-captured? Because I used that illustration in the custom interactive Flash map that I designed and developed. (Flash animations are embedded into HTML so they can’t be dragged onto a desktop.) Now, what really fries me is that my clients paid good money to have me create custom artwork and interactivity for them to add value to their site, then some “affordable” web design firm thinks they can leverage that work for their own clients – for free! Without so much as an email to see if it’s OK with my client that they use the artwork. My clients are generous but they didn’t pay for custom work to share it with the world. One of the services we provide as a web design firm is to create custom websites that standout from the crowd and we do that with original artwork and programming.
What kills me is this situation would be totally different if the other web design firm had just emailed me first and asked if they could use a copy of the artwork we had developed for our client. I would have been flattered and called the client on their behalf to see if it was OK. Instead support they’ve managed to show me how little they want to be a good business neighbor.
Unless artwork, text, or programming specifically says Freeware, Shareware or Public Domain, it’s nice to ask before you take – it’s just good manners and may keep you and your client out of hot water. An email only takes a few seconds to write. Most sites have a contact page or a contact email in the footer and most web designers put a link back to their site under the footer – any of those email addresses are a good place to start. Even freeware and shareware usually request a link back to the owner or some form of recognition in exchange for use.
If you don’t see a copyright notice don’t assume that the content on a website is public domain. See the excerpt from the U.S. government’s copyright laws below.
US Copyright Laws
“Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright.
NOTE: The use of a copyright notice is no longer required under U. S. law, although it is often beneficial.”
Reproduced from: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wci
Recently, a custom map illustration that I commissioned for one of my clients was screen-captured then used on another site. How do I know it was screen-captured? Because I used that illustration in the custom interactive Flash map that I designed and developed. (Flash animations are embedded into HTML so they can’t be dragged onto a desktop.) Now, what really fries me is that my clients paid good money to have me create custom artwork and interactivity for them to add value to their site, then some “affordable” web design firm thinks they can leverage that work for their own clients – for free! Without so much as an email to see if it’s OK with my client that they use the artwork. My clients are generous but they didn’t pay for custom work to share it with the world. One of the services we provide as a web design firm is to create custom websites that standout from the crowd and we do that with original artwork and programming.
What kills me is this situation would be totally different if the other web design firm had just emailed me first and asked if they could use a copy of the artwork we had developed for our client. I would have been flattered and called the client on their behalf to see if it was OK. Instead support they’ve managed to show me how little they want to be a good business neighbor.
Unless artwork, text, or programming specifically says Freeware, Shareware or Public Domain, it’s nice to ask before you take – it’s just good manners and may keep you and your client out of hot water. An email only takes a few seconds to write. Most sites have a contact page or a contact email in the footer and most web designers put a link back to their site under the footer – any of those email addresses are a good place to start. Even freeware and shareware usually request a link back to the owner or some form of recognition in exchange for use.
If you don’t see a copyright notice don’t assume that the content on a website is public domain. See the excerpt from the U.S. government’s copyright laws below.
US Copyright Laws
“Copyright protection subsists from the time the work is created in fixed form. The copyright in the work of authorship immediately becomes the property of the author who created the work. Only the author or those deriving their rights through the author can rightfully claim copyright.
NOTE: The use of a copyright notice is no longer required under U. S. law, although it is often beneficial.”
Reproduced from: http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ1.html#wci
posted by super webgirl at
10:10 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home