|
Most of us are familiar with copyright but because it often gets blurred in our Open Source world I will define it. According to the US Copyright Office:
"Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U.S. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:
* To reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords;
* To prepare derivative works based upon the work;
* To distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
* To perform the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
* To display the copyrighted work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work; and
* In the case of sound recordings, to perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission."
In other words copyright gives the author the right to publish, reproduce, or permit someone else to reproduce their work. The following are examples of works you can copyright:
* websites, templates
* articles, stories, journals, or software
* pictures, graphics
* architectural blueprints
* movies, music and song lyrics
For example, JWG is copyrighted, the copyright is held collectively by
everyone who has contributed to the project. It is FREE because it is released under the GNU/GPL license. Note, licensing is the key to copyright because licensing defines how a user can use the copyrighted work.
Also did you know the most common copyright infringement on the Internet is copying images from sites. A good rule to follow is this, if you didn't create the image then don't use it unless you have permission from the author. If you do decide to use it then you are violating the owners copyright.
But remember licensing? Licensing is the key to copyright.
What is licensing?
A license provides the user with the rules of how they can use the copyrighted work i.e., software, clip art, themes etc. So when you don't own the copyright to something you have to either license it from the copyright owner or get permission to use it from the copyright owner.
For example, the GNU/GPL license provides the user with a set of rights with respect to the software, for example as a user you can reproduce the software, you can change the code or enhance it, and you have the right to re-distribute the software as long as you maintain the copyright of the original authors and give others the same rights that you have.
Another variation is the CreativeCommons.org license that provides authors, artists, etc with a way to grant certain permissions with respect to sharing their work. Here's how CreativeCommons.org describes themselves, "Creative Commons is devoted to expanding the range of creative work available for others to build upon and share." Note I've chosen to use the Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivs-NonCommercial License for this article and if you'd like to use a Creative Commons license for your work in the future please check out their licensing tool.
Why is it better to provide a creative commons license as opposed to just a simple copyright notice? Becuase it is clear to the end-user how they can use/interact with the content and gives the reader/user the ability to copy, distribute, display, and or perform the work.
So in essence the creative commons license is giving a reader/user prior permission as opposed to no license which requires the user to get permission from the copyright holder prior to doing anything else with the content. But as with any license there are conditions and if you are the copyright owner you're able to choose the conditions, i.e., the article can be distributed as long as you give the original author credit, you cannot use the article for commercial purposes, and you cannot alter or build upon the work. So again if you did not create the work, it comes down to licensing.
What do you do if you are a site owner or a designer? How does this apply to themes?
My suggestions are: Site owners seek out reputable, professional designers. Ask questions like; Will my theme be original? Are you using clip art? If you are do you have the rights to use them in templates? Are there any restrictions to original images? What are the licensing terms? Will I be the only one using the template? Is it an original work? Will I get the original Photoshop files for future changes/revisions?
New theme designers, if you don't already know how to use a graphics program then learn. Industry favorites include, Photoshop, Flash, Illustrator, Fireworks, and Freehand. Once you feel comfortable with a couple of these programs then learn how to use Dreamweaver. Next, invest in a digital camera and a scanner, then get a few good books or better yet find a few great web sites on relevant topics and let your creativity run wild! But I encourage you not to fall into the trap of using someone else's work. Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with being inspired by someone else's work. But take that inspiration and use your own talents to create something new.
Finally, if you decide to supplement your work with clipart, pre-made themes, or stock images make sure you read the licensing terms for each because they are all different. For example, some licensing agreements will not let you use the images in web templates for resell and requires you to get a separate license. For example, this was taken from ClipArt.com's licensing agreement, "Use in a Web site template requires a separate license and fee......"
Summary
As mentioned in the beginning of the article; copyright, licensing, and themes are complicated issues but it doesn't have to be. Copyright is simple, if you didn't create it, you don't own it so get permission to use it either by buying a license or asking for permission. Next, licensing is a bit more work to understand because there are so many different types of licenses so read all the fine print. Then if you have questions or any doubts about using it then consult with an expert. Finally, themes, to be safe, site owners work with professional theme designers, ask questions, and get your agreements in writing. Designers, create your own graphics and don't take credit for work that isn't yours.
Resources of Interest
The following is a list of relevant resources you can use to get more information on most of the topics discussed in this article.
US Copyright Office - http://www.copyright.gov
World Intellectual Property Organiztion - http://www.wipo.int/
UK Government Intellectual Property - http://www.intellectual-property.gov.uk/
Intellectual Property on the Web - http://digitalenterprise.org/ip/ip.html
GNU/GPL - http://www.gnu.org/home.html
CreativeCommons.org - http://www.creativecommons.org
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 - http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act Resource Links from Educause - http://www.educause.edu/issues/issue.asp?Issue=DMCA
Primer on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act - http://www.arl.org/info/frn/copy/primer.html
Copyright and Multimedia Law for Webbuilders - http://bailiwick.lib.uiowa.edu/webbuilder/copyright.html
Copyright Law for Webmasters by Timothy J. Walton- http://www.netatty.com/copy.html
Copyright Law Information and Articles - http://www.keytlaw.com/Copyrights/copyrightlaw.htm
Copyright Law and Electronic Access - http://www.firstmonday.dk/issues/issue4/litman/
Licensing Digital Content - http://www.library.yale.edu/~llicense/
GO BACK
|
|
Portal
Forum
Downloads
Lyrics
Photo
Videos
News
Lelong
Mobile
Top10
JWG Network
Jiwang Torrent
|
Jiwang MySpace
Login
Guests: 387
Jiwangers: 213
Total: 600
What is Copyright?
