Well it's not. It's not legal at all. There are copyright laws in effect for a reason. A while back, on my Tumblr, I brought the attention of an art thief named "Batnoises" to the original artist once called Batnoise or Keeehl. Please see People just assumes it is okay and legal to steal Tumblr to read my post about them.
It would seem people are not taking this Copyright infringement seriously enough.
Let us review what Copyright infringement is:
What is Copyright Infringement?
To simplify this question, copyright infringement occurs when you do certain things with a creative work which someone else produced without first getting the proper permission.
Some examples of copyright infringement (this is only a partial listing) can include:
-Placing someone else's photograph or creative work online without proper permission.
-Using a creative work commercially without permission.
-Adapting someone else's creative work found in one medium to another medium, such as making a book into a movie or a photograph into a painting.
-Modifying or editing a creative work without proper permission.
When is it okay to modify, share, or commercially use someone else's work?
Another, to put it simply, you need permission or the work is set under the Creative Commons agreement. In order to ask for permission, you must contact the original artist if you are allowed to feature their work somewhere else such as your Deviant Art page, blog site, Facebook, and so on. However, if the person in question refuses access, you are not allowed to do it. The original artist has every right to file a DMCA against the person.
Under my Creative Commons and free to use post, I provide the link to the Creative Commons information regarding works that are allowed to be used, modified, featured, and so on. If the work you wish to modify does not have the licensing agreement on with the post, or the original artist stating it is free to be used and/or modified with credit to the original artist, you are not permitted, by law, to do such thing.
THIS IS WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO READ THE INFORMATION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE POST AND/OR VIDEO!
What if I am a victim of art theft?
That is where the DMCA comes in. On Tumblr, they have a DMCA Copyright Notification you can fill out and report to Tumblr of anyone stealing your work. But note, if you are filing false reports, the original artist can and will prove they own the property you are claiming to be yours.
In Deviant Art, on the side panel next to the work, when you scroll down, you can click on the "Report this deviation" and claim under the DMCA to have it removed. Too many reports and the user will be banned.
YouTube has a similar report system, as long as you provide proof of the claim. To be more precise, every website has the DMCA notification and Takedown. If you do fall victim of art theft, do not be afraid to report them. It is your intellectual property and they have no right, under law, to take it.
What if I find someone else's work under another name and it is not them?
That's easy to answer. You just alert the original artist. But do make sure that it's not the original artist, themselves, first before telling them. Normally, you can report the work to the site that it is posted on, however not all sites give you that option, but to have you alert the original artist instead to file a DMCA. Letting the artist know about illegal use of their work is better than trying to be a noble person and telling the thief to take it down. Commonly, you will get the kind of jerk who will either claim "Fair Use" which is not a thing if they are claiming it as their own, or will try to block you, treat you like crap, trash talk you, and all manner of ill things. It's better to tell the original artist instead. Websites like YouTube can auto detect copyright work, however, through certain software. But, to my understanding, only works under with the music you use in your videos. Because of this, they restrict you from ever claiming it as your own, keep you from monetizing the work, lockout certain parts of the world because of the content, and even alert the original artist and/or company to dispute the case to have your video taken down. Images can be done, to my knowledge, through user reports.
What is "Fair Use Law"?
The basic rundown as to what "Fair Use Law" is:
Even celebrities have to follow the laws regarding creative commons, fair use, and copyright. Weird Al ensures gaining permissions from the original music artists to make parodies of their music. He takes the time to cover all legal aspects as he does make money off of his parodies. There are YouTube channels who, also, make parodies of movies, television shows, video games, music, and even other YouTube channels. They provide credit to the original artists/owners. They, too, cover the legal aspects of things. Team Four Star, the YouTube channel that parodies the Dragon Ball Z series, ensures that their episodes are fan base parodies and prompts their viewers to support the official release. None of them claim the original work as their own. At all, ever.
It would seem people are not taking this Copyright infringement seriously enough.
Let us review what Copyright infringement is:
What is Copyright Infringement?
To simplify this question, copyright infringement occurs when you do certain things with a creative work which someone else produced without first getting the proper permission.
Some examples of copyright infringement (this is only a partial listing) can include:
-Placing someone else's photograph or creative work online without proper permission.
-Using a creative work commercially without permission.
-Adapting someone else's creative work found in one medium to another medium, such as making a book into a movie or a photograph into a painting.
-Modifying or editing a creative work without proper permission.
When is it okay to modify, share, or commercially use someone else's work?
Another, to put it simply, you need permission or the work is set under the Creative Commons agreement. In order to ask for permission, you must contact the original artist if you are allowed to feature their work somewhere else such as your Deviant Art page, blog site, Facebook, and so on. However, if the person in question refuses access, you are not allowed to do it. The original artist has every right to file a DMCA against the person.
Under my Creative Commons and free to use post, I provide the link to the Creative Commons information regarding works that are allowed to be used, modified, featured, and so on. If the work you wish to modify does not have the licensing agreement on with the post, or the original artist stating it is free to be used and/or modified with credit to the original artist, you are not permitted, by law, to do such thing.
THIS IS WHY IT IS IMPORTANT TO READ THE INFORMATION AND DESCRIPTION OF THE POST AND/OR VIDEO!
What if I am a victim of art theft?
That is where the DMCA comes in. On Tumblr, they have a DMCA Copyright Notification you can fill out and report to Tumblr of anyone stealing your work. But note, if you are filing false reports, the original artist can and will prove they own the property you are claiming to be yours.
In Deviant Art, on the side panel next to the work, when you scroll down, you can click on the "Report this deviation" and claim under the DMCA to have it removed. Too many reports and the user will be banned.
YouTube has a similar report system, as long as you provide proof of the claim. To be more precise, every website has the DMCA notification and Takedown. If you do fall victim of art theft, do not be afraid to report them. It is your intellectual property and they have no right, under law, to take it.
What if I find someone else's work under another name and it is not them?
That's easy to answer. You just alert the original artist. But do make sure that it's not the original artist, themselves, first before telling them. Normally, you can report the work to the site that it is posted on, however not all sites give you that option, but to have you alert the original artist instead to file a DMCA. Letting the artist know about illegal use of their work is better than trying to be a noble person and telling the thief to take it down. Commonly, you will get the kind of jerk who will either claim "Fair Use" which is not a thing if they are claiming it as their own, or will try to block you, treat you like crap, trash talk you, and all manner of ill things. It's better to tell the original artist instead. Websites like YouTube can auto detect copyright work, however, through certain software. But, to my understanding, only works under with the music you use in your videos. Because of this, they restrict you from ever claiming it as your own, keep you from monetizing the work, lockout certain parts of the world because of the content, and even alert the original artist and/or company to dispute the case to have your video taken down. Images can be done, to my knowledge, through user reports.
What is "Fair Use Law"?
The basic rundown as to what "Fair Use Law" is:
- 17 U.S.C. § 107
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 17 U.S.C. § 106 and 17 U.S.C. § 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:
- the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
- the nature of the copyrighted work;
- the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
- the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.
However, fair use laws primarily applies to the United States and not all works people are stealing are from artists who live in the United States. There are, also, International Copyright laws people need to take into consideration. This means the copyright laws of the country the work originated from and being used in as an act of fair use. Claiming fair use on a piece when you are, also, claiming it as your own is illegal. Criticism is allowed, yes. Especially if the artist asks for the criticism to help them better their work. But if the artist requests the work to be removed, you have to remove it or have it escalated. Anyone who does news reports also provide the name of the artist of the work they are talking about.
However, fair use laws primarily applies to the United States and not all works people are stealing are from artists who live in the United States. There are, also, International Copyright laws people need to take into consideration. This means the copyright laws of the country the work originated from and being used in as an act of fair use. Claiming fair use on a piece when you are, also, claiming it as your own is illegal. Criticism is allowed, yes. Especially if the artist asks for the criticism to help them better their work. But if the artist requests the work to be removed, you have to remove it or have it escalated. Anyone who does news reports also provide the name of the artist of the work they are talking about.
(Example)
 |
| "Seriously? (colored)" by Artist Chibi |
If you wish to learn more about Fair Use Laws, please follow the links provided below.
Links to International Copyright Law statements:
NOTICE: If you are not willing to take the time to learn these laws, you hold no power over what happens to you for breaking these laws. You MUST take into consideration as to what could happen to you if you break the law, locally or internationally.
No comments :
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.