Protect yourself <--Important Read

[DDD]

This is a little something I learned in a copyright law presentation the other day and thought was applicable to our developers here on this board. I post this because I get alot of questions about the subject and thought it would be cool to let folks know that there are ways to protect yourself from copyright infringement that are low cost.


1. First Use.
This term is pretty important when it comes to proving who had it first. Basically whoever can prove their concept is original by showing theirs was created first wins. Now why am I telling you this? Kirupa keeps back-ups and vbulletin time stamps posts so essentially you can use the forums as sort of a copright protection system. Say if someone has your logo post all over a fleet of vans and they started their company last year. But you posted your logo on the boards 4 years ago. You may be able to ask K for a back up report for proof that yours was created first. It works better since K is a third party with no connection to yourself, this works the same with email as well. Back up your emails. So the moral of the story is; when particpating here in a logo challenge or what have you. It is better to post your entry in the thread rather than send by email or IM. Not all the way protection but these days we need all we can get.

2. Poor man's copyright

Another good thing you can do is. Mail your design to yourself from another mail box. Then when you recieve your mail DO NOT OPEN IT. The post office seal is a federal seal and could quite possibly stand up in court for copyright infringement as a federal seal is legally binding. I do this from time to time if I think there is a chance I will get ripped off. Not sure how the postal system is handled abroad but here in the States the postal system is a federal system. But nothing beats the good copyright application, but that costs money and I know some of us are pretty strapped for cash.

3. DPI

I stress this to the younger folks or the paranoid. Do not post large size documents. If you post a small representation there is less chance that the logo is use-able. And please folks stop with the watermarks. While you may feel it is doing you some good. It is uterly useless without the date stating when it was created. On my doc you see at the bottom I do have a copyright statement, my logo and the date. That is really all that is needed.

Well that is my little spill on protecting your images. Feel free to add to this thread. As I find out more I will add to this first post. Keep in mind some of this stuff may only work in the US. But always check with your local County/City government for more information.

That concludes this public service announcement. We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

[B3NKobe]

1. First Use.
This term is pretty important when it comes to proving who had it first. Basically whoever can prove their concept is original by showing theirs was created first wins. Now why am I telling you this? Kirupa keeps back-ups and vbulletin time stamps posts so essentially you can use the forums as sort of a copright protection system. Say if someone has your logo post all over a fleet of vans and they started their company last year. But you posted your logo on the boards 4 years ago. You may be able to ask K for a back up report for proof that yours was created first. It works better since K is a third party with no connection to yourself, this works the same with email as well. Back up your emails. So the moral of the story is; when particpating here in a logo challenge or what have you. It is better to post your entry in the thread rather than send by email or IM. Not all the way protection but these days we need all we can get.


This could be very handy for alot of people, :thumb:

[mdipi]

http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

Great link there, explains the 10 biggest myths about copyrighting, including the correct format.

[Vexir]

This is great :) Does it all still apply to under-18's? (Inc. mdipi's link, which was a great read.)

[Voetsjoeba]

I don't really get the second protection. How does mailing your own design to yourself and not opening it protect you ? Is it the date the mail was sent on ?

[Digitalosophy]

Thanks DDD, 5 star post

[Vexir]

I don't really get the second protection. How does mailing your own design to yourself and not opening it protect you ? Is it the date the mail was sent on ?

Some wacky US postal service law thingy :P

[Ankou]

I don't really get the second protection. How does mailing your own design to yourself and not opening it protect you ? Is it the date the mail was sent on ?

If you have to go to court to prove that you created the image you have the unopened document with the work inside. The time stamped on the letter by the post office would provide a date for when you created the work*. The letter would be opened in court as "evidence" - also if you needed to go to court at a later date about this same image it would be on record (so you don't need to send yourself multiple copies of the work to yourself).

Also I just want to add that sometimes when the letter gets stamped at the post office it's hard to see the date or it can eventually become hard to read over time. If you send the letter certified (which will cost a little more than just a stamp) you'll have to sign for the letter before you get it - which will have the date (and time I believe) of when the letter was sent and when it was signed for. Put that into a safe or lockbox just incase the post mark on the letter is unreadable.



* - The date the letter was stamped would be used if there were no other way to prove you created the work. So it wouldn't make too much sense to take all your work from the past and mail it to yourself today. While it would help... it wouldn't make much sense to have work you created 3 years ago with a post mark date of a week ago.

[DDD]

More stuff on fair use.
http://www.creativecow.net/cgi-bin/page_wrapper.cgi?forumid=17&page=/articles/lindeboom_ron/copyrights_pt2_fair-use/index.html

[MTsoul]

Wow I never thought of that first method. Thanks DDD.

[paBlo_Du]

Posting your workon Deviant Art date stamps it as well'

[SlowRoasted]

nice info, ill keep all those in mind:P

[watwat]

Also if you get your solicitor or local justice of peace to chop and sign a date on a letter you can assure yourself of a date and time for when your document was created :)

[theHollow]

I'm just curious about the "federal seal" on the mail. I'm in australia so it might be different. do you mean the thing they put next to the postage stamp (I think its half over the postage stamp actually) that has something like the name of the town the mails been sent from?

[Pasquale]

:) *Australia represent* Yeah I'm actualyl curious as to if it works here in OZ

[bernk]

As far as I know you must send whatever it is you want to "copyright" through registered post. That way the date matters, if you send it as non-registered it MAY still hold up but won't have as much backing it.

Also, I think the reason people watermark their artwork is to make it harder to trace or use that iteration in something else. Realistically nothing can protect your idea from being ripped off. Not even a real copyright, no matter how much money you have.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_Shijingshan_Amusement_Park

That is the sad truth.

[D.shaks]

I have some eBooks that are in .LIT format. I had a copy of Microsoft Reader on my old computer but was not able to transfer it to my new computer. I cant find the program now so I can read my books. Help?

[moselekm]

Not sure if anyone has noted.

But Poorman's Copyright never and will never hold up in court. At least not supreme court or any federal courts. There is actually documentation that any evidence of this kind is immediately disregarded.

Why? Well probably because the US wants you to pay their fees. Which is not too expensive. The US-Feds are so nice they recommend you send all material in bulk as you can save a crap ton of cash by doing so.

Either way, save your stamps and envelopes. Mailing yourself anything is not admissible in federal court.

In terms of First Use and using the mail trick. Again, if someone forked over the green and actually had a valid copyright it will nine times out of ten, not hold up. I say nine times out of ten, because hey, anything can happen.

First Use against E-Proof? Again, if someone actually has physical hardcopy+federal certificate of copyright, you'll never have a chance.

There are many tricks to protect your work, the best one is Free Use. Or hey, you can have a legal-notary sign some crap and it'll be better than mailing yourself.

[PreeMent]

Thanks