Regarding copyright law, "orphaned works" and what that means for your own art

[caduceus]

I meant to share some art today, but then I stumbled across this by accident on my nellasofdoriath f-list ~ and I think that this is indeed relevant for my art posting here on LJ.

If you do anything artsy, please read!

The initial post was on art_theft here - but you have to be a member of that community to read the posts, so for anyone who doesn't want to join, I'll

Comments

[rum_inspector]

Oh just spent an hour reading all this... Must admit, first the article made me panic. Then it made me look for the date (is this one of those April Fool pranks?)
I guess I should develop some more healthy criticism as well. The worst part is, that it sounds believable.
Now my brain is full, and I thank you for it since I learnt a lot about copyright from those articles and clicking around. It makes me feel strange all fan fiction is violation, but if it's parody, it isn't. Confusing. It also seems the laws about privacy are more strict in Finland than in US.

I don't like big ugly watermarks over everything... and even if one do use watermarks, there is still people who know how to get rid of them.

[caduceus]

Yes, the first post really could make you freak - and a few people obviously did. Which is why I posted this: there doesn't seem to be a real reason to be worried, so people can stop running around like headless chickens. :)

I've been thinking about watermarks... I don't like them either, but I guess I should make sure my pictures have at least a signature of some sort. I just tend to forget to put one in a corner when I scan things...
As for getting rid of them - yes, you can do that, but it takes time and work, and that sometimes makes people reconsider. It won't deter the determined thieves, but it might stop the lazy art snatcher. :)

[rum_inspector]

Yes, I think I'd be more cautious about signing things too now... Even the scraps. Maybe it would be good to have a little box of (c) and contact info to cut & paste to the corner of a picture?

Funny though, I just encountered my old old website and there I had every single little piece signed, either with my initials, webpage address or most scarily - my full name. Nowadays I'm not sure if my work always even have that signing, and I would rather steal the things I do now than those silly sketches I did five or more years ago...

[moth2fic]

If your art is on a zine, in a comm, on a website/journal, you should only need to make sure it is attributed to you somewhere on that site and that the site has your contact details. You should consider signing everything, with your intials anyway, maybe turned into a tiny logo of some kind.

There are archives where both fic and art have authors/artists who have left no contact details with the maintainers. Those are true 'orphans'. Also, if a site 'dies' and you know your work was there, try to remove it.

Anyone using your work has to show they tried really hard to trace you. Otherwise they have to pay you or offer to pay you. And they still can't pass the work off as theirs.

[moth2fic]

P.S. I commented before reading any of the articles. The first one is rubbish - he is trying to frighten people/stir shit/whatever, maybe on purpose and maybe because he doesn't understand. Maradydd's article sums it all up perfectly. Stop worrying!! (And for what it's worth, I am/was a lawyer, though not in that field).

[caduceus]

Oh, I didn't worry. Or at least, I stopped the moment I read Maradydd's post. It was just another typical hurricane in a teapot, exacerbated by the internet avalanches and hearsay... as it happens quite often.

I'd love to think that my style is recognizable enough even without my name scrawled across everything, but I guess a) I'd be fooling myself and b) that wouldn't help people trying to track me down. That said, I do sign all my pictures, but sometimes the signature gets lost during the scanning, resizing and/or cropping, and sometimes I forget to put something on the picture when I am done. I really have to make that a habit, though.
I guess I'll try and play around with signatures and watermarks and see what works.

Either way, I'm quite fortunate in that my livelihood doesn't depend on my art, so I'm not losing money if my art is stolen. That doesn't mean that I don't mind, or that others are free to make money with it, though. ;)

[moth2fic]

I think you should make a habit of checking to see if your signature is there after cropping etc