TOUs and You
What are TOUs, types of TOUs, and other information...
I got most of this information from
As I had to look up what much of this stuff meant so I understood what my wife was talking about. Most of this talks about Digital Scrapbooking which most of the digital media that I am now dealing with. And, yes, I did copy and paste most all of the artical that I felt was relavent to what I need to know and what most people might need to know that are in a similar situation to myself, just getting into or back into the digital art industry.
What is a Terms of Use (TOU)?
In every digital
scrapbooking goody you download, you most likely will find a file named TOU or
Terms of Use. This is the documentation created by the designer outlining what
is and is not permissible use of the product(s). Terms of Use come in several
varieties. Some TOUs outline guidelines for personal usage, some address Scrap
for Hire (also called Scrap for Others or S4O) usage and some address Commercial
usage.
What is Personal Use?
Personal Use is
generally defined as using the products for your own layouts (or hybrid
projects). There is no universal Personal Use definition. Each designer sets
their own definition of what is acceptable under Personal Use for their
products. Read the Terms of Use documents included with your digital
scrapbooking downloads. That is the best way to understand what types of use are
acceptable for a particular product.
What is Scrap for Hire
Use?
Scrap for Hire licenses cover usage guidelines for digital
scrapbookers who create albums and/or pages for clients as a service. Without a
Scrap for Hire license, it is not legal to purchase digital scrapbooking
products and create pages as a paid service for other people. The process of
doing so, even if you are delivering a “flattened” file without the individual
products files, is considered creating what’s called a derivative work. The
license to create derivative works is controlled solely by the original
copyright holder (in this case, the designer). Without permission from the
original copyright holder to create derivative works, doing so is copyright
infringement. Many designers sell their products either with both personal use
and Scrap for Hire use licenses automatically, or for a nominal, extra
charge.
What is Commercial Use?
Commercial Use
licensed products are sold mainly to other designers as design tools to aid in
the creation of digital scrapbooking products. Acceptable use within the bounds
of a Commercial Use license often varies somewhat significantly. For example,
some Commercial Use licenses strictly prohibit the creation of products that
will be given as “freebies,” while others do not. Commercial Use licensed
products are sold at a higher price point than Personal Use or Scrap for Hire
Use products.
Wait, I bought these products! Why am I being told what I can or
can’t do with them?
When you buy any digital scrapbooking product,
you’re not purchasing the images themselves. You are buying the right to use the
product, within the guidelines outlined in the Terms of Use documentation.
Essentially, you can think of a designer’s TOU as the equivalent of the End User
License Agreement (EULA) that you agree to when you install or use a software
program on your computer. Both state who owns the copyright to the material and
how you, as a license holder, can legally use it.
What about freebies or gifts?
Just because you were given
a product free of charge by the designer does not mean the product isn’t
protected by copyright. Freebies and gifts still include Terms of Use
documentation that is to be respected.
Who does the Use license I've purchased cover?
Sometimes, a
scrapbooker may question who is able to legally use the products they've purchased. If you've purchased the product, can your teenage daughter use it in
her layout? Many designers consider their use license to be for a household,
meaning whoever is legally resides in the house can use the product. It doesn't,
however, mean that certain designers haven’t structured their Use licenses
differently. Always, if you are in doubt, contact the designer. You are in no
way bothering or bugging them. Designers appreciate customers who ask questions
in order to respect their Terms of Use.
Why do designers and
artists create all these “usage rules?” I’m not trying to make money with their
products!
It’s important to note that according to US copyright
laws, copyright infringement and the enforcement of copyright law has nothing to
do with profit. What that means is that it doesn't matter if you’re not making
money off of whatever you’re doing, if it violates copyright laws, it violates
the laws—period. Consider a scenario where you take a photo of your child. You
publish your photo to your blog so that you can share it with your friends and
family. Then, someone comes along and takes that photo and posts it elsewhere or
uses it in some way without your permission. They've infringed on your
copyright. Unless they have written permission to publish or use your photo,
they have no right to use your photo in any way—even if they've gained no profit
from the use.
Now imagine if you sold some form of use license for that
photo to a company. You have the right to dictate how your photo is used. You
can say that your photo cannot be used in any way that is discriminatory or
pornographic or exploitive. It doesn't matter how much money the client has paid
to you. They still must follow the usage guidelines you set for them when they
made the purchase. Why? It’s simply because the photo is still your property.
The only time this wouldn't apply is if you sign a copyright release form,
essentially transferring the copyright to another entity or stated that you've released your copyright and the work is now public domain (meaning anyone can
use it without restriction).
Artists across all industries exercise their
right to protect their work, including, but not limited to: painters, musicians,
writers, film makers and photographers.
So...
Now that ignorance has been banished in the face of the law put in black and white...
I still think there are too many "signs" on tags and such but I do understand why they are there. To protect artists who have the ideas and do the work from those who just wanna make money off someone else's work or are just plain old too lazy to do the work themselves.
In becoming compliant and helping my wife with some of her stuff through the years I have had to learn many of the alt special characters. A great resource that I have found and keep sharing over and over is:
Special Alt Characters
and the one that is important to me now and deals with this topic is...
ALT 0169 or ©
**Edit** B Schaffer 8-19-2013
I gotta love it when my wife goes off on a tangent about her artsy friends going spastic over copyright terms and such. Her recent tirade led me to http://www.copyright.gov/ , which is the website for the U.S Copyright Office. They actually address the issue of the copyright of intellectual property and whether or not it has to be filed with the Office to be legal. Hereafter I am going to copy/paste some information and links that I found interesting. I hope you do too. ~SignS
Copyright Basics
Circular 1
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ01.pdf
http://www.copyright.gov/
Copyright Registration for Online Works
Circular 66
http://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ66.pdf
Acceptable alternitives to disignate copyright and the form
Form of Notice for Visually Perceptible Copies
The notice for visually perceptible copies should contain all the following three elements:
1 The symbol © (the letter C in a circle), or the word “Copyright,” or the abbreviation “Copr.”; and
2 The year of first publication of the work. In the case of compilations or derivative works incorporating previously published material, the year date of first publication of the compilation or derivative work is sufficient. The year date may be omitted where a pictorial, graphic, or sculptural work, with accompanying textual matter, if any, is reproduced in or on greeting cards, postcards, stationery, jewelry, dolls, toys, or any useful article; and
3 The name of the owner of copyright in the work, or an abbreviation by which the name can be recognized, or a generally known alternative designation of the owner.
Example: © 2011 John Doe
Copyright claimed in page 4 - 5
Circular66
U.S. Copyright Office
www.copyright.gov
The fractal program I use currently is JWildfire...
It can be found here...
One important thing to note of the page is:
"The software is completely free and has not any locked features or ads or other nagging things. You are welcome to use it for any purpose you want."
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