Legislation

and guidelines

Introduction
InthisdocumentIwillbeproducingashortreportwhichexplainsthelegalitiesplacedupontheuse
ofgraphicimagesforcommercialandnoncommercialuse.Myreportwillbecoveringthefollowing
sections;

Whatismeantbycopyright
Thepotentialimpactofbreachingcopyright
Howtoidentifytheownershipofanimage
Howcopyrightedimagescanbeused
Whatarecopyrightfreeimages
Howdoescopyrightlawsapplytoyourownworkwhichisnonprofit

What is meant by copyright

Copyright,givethecreatorsofcontenttherighttocontrolhowthatcontentisusedanddistributed;
Music,Books,VideosandSoftwareareallcoveredbycopyrightlaw.Tousematerialthatsunder
copyright,forexampleaphoto,youhavetoaskandreceivepermissionfromtheowner.Ifyoubreak
thelawyoucouldbefinedorevensenttoprison.Thewaycopyrightlawworkswithsoftwareisyou
cantjustgiveacopytoafriend,andyourenotallowedtosellaloadofcopiesatthemarket,ifyou
donthavetherightlicenseyoucantinstallitonanetworkandfinallyyourenotallowedtorentit
out.

What are the potentials impacts of breaching copyright

Criminal Fines
Violatorsofcopyrightlawcouldfindthemselvesintroublewiththegovernmentandliablefor
extensivemonetarypenalties. Courtsdecidetheamountofthefinebasedonthevalueofproducts
counterfeitedinviolationofthelaw.

Prison Time
Thegovernmenttakescopyrightinfringementveryseriously,evenenoughtoimposeprisontimeon
firsttimeandrepeatoffenders.Firsttimeoffenderscouldserveuptofiveyearsinprison,while
repeatviolatorscanfaceanupto10years.

Injunctions
Victimscansueviolatorsincivilcourtwithtwolikelyoutcomes,thefirstofwhichisaninjunction.An
injunctionisbasicallyanordertostopperforminganyact,includingreproducingordistributingof
copyrightedsources.Failuretocomplywithsaidinjunctioncouldresultinanarrest.

Financial Restitution
Theamountofrestitutionthatcanbeawardedtovictimsofcopyrightinfringementdependsonthe
costoftheinconvenienceorlosssufferedbytheinfringementvictim.


How to identify the ownership of an image
Youhaveseenanimageonawebsiteandwouldliketouseit,butyoucannotfindwhereyoucan
buyit,whotheowneris,orwhereitfirstcamefrom?Ifanimagehasawatermarkthisagoodplace
tostart.Ifitdoesnot,youcantryhoveringovertheimagetoseeifthereispopsupthattellsyou
theowner.Youcanalsolookatthesourcecodeofthewebsitetoseeiftheimageyouwanttouse
hasanalttagthatcouldgiveyouanydetailsontheowner.Youcouldalsotrydownloadingthe
imagetofindoutifithasadescriptionthatcomesalongwithittoidentifyingtheowner.

How copyrighted images can be used

Copyrightsourcescanbeusedifyouseekthepermissionofthesourceowner,andcheckifthey
actuallyownthecopyrighttothesourceyouwishtouseoriftheymighthavebeengranteda
licencetousethesourcebytheoriginalcopyrightowner.Anyrightsofusetheyhavebeengranted
orhavepurchasedwillberestrictedtotheirownusage.Youmustgainthepermissionoftheoriginal
rightsowneryourselfifyouwishtocopythesourceanduseit.

What are copyright free images

Sourcesthatarecopyrightfreehaveexpiredorbeenforfeitedbytheownerorcreator.Thismeans
thatyoucanusethesourcewithoutanykindofpermissionneeded.Thisevenincludesusingthe
Sourcecommerciallyorforprofit.Ifasourceisnotinthepublicdomainthenthereareconditions
thatmustbemetwhenusingthatsource.

How does copyright laws apply to your own work which is non
profit
AsanauthoranyworkthatIcreate/writewilllegallybemine,sonoonehastherightyouuseyour
workwithoutmypermissionasanauthor.Ifsomeoneweretousemyworkwithoutpermissionor
usemyimagestheywouldbeinfringingthecopyrightact,andIwouldbeallowtosuethem.
HoweverifIplaceditonapublicdomainanyonewouldbeabletouseitwithoutaskingfor
permission.Thereisaninbetweenoptionwhichisknownbyatermcallcopyleft,copyleftisa
termthatdescribesacopyrightlicencingarrangementwheretheauthorofthematerialssurrenders
someofhisrights.Normallyacopyleftlicencewillallowthingssuchas;distributedoradapted,work
tobefreelycopied,butprovidingthatallcopiesofthematerialsorthemodifiedversionsarealso
freelyavailableunderthesamelicencingarrangement.

Conclusion
Inconclusion,Ihavespokenaboutcopyrightandwhatitis,fromthereIhavegoneontotalkabout
thepotentialsimpactsofbreachingcopyrightlawssuchas;fines,prisontime,injunctionsand
financialrestitutions.Ihavegivensuggestionsonhowtoidentifytheownershipofamaterialand
howyoucanusethesematerialsonceyouhavefoundtheowner.Ifinishedupwithtalkingabout
howcopyrightlawsapplytopeoplesownworkwhichisanonprofitmaterial.