Image Protection under the Copyright Law

Copyright law changed in 1923 from a fourteen year copyright to a stricter and longer policy of the author’s life plus an extra seventy-five years or a corporation’s life plus ninety years. This long of a copyright date makes it more important than ever to cite sources, be wary of paraphrasing, and know your rights under current copyright law. Any work created by anyone, if it is an original piece, is copyrighted, whether or not is has the © symbol (Templeton, 2004). This includes written work, work saved on a file, and any visual art as well as other creations. There is no difference between a written work and an image under the current copyright law. Giving recognition to the work when you reproduce it is not enough to satisfy the law; you must have individual consent from the author to use the work.

For example, if I were to put a picture up from a website on this blog, even if I cited the source, it would be considered copyright infringement under the law and I could possibility receive a take-down notice and/or a lawsuit from the copyright owner. This blog would normally fall under the fair use rule because it is for a scholarly course, but because it is seen by non scholars, it no longer falls under this protection. If I were to change the photo in some way and “create something new” (Stim, 2007) with the image, there is more of a chance the photo would fall under the fair use law and I would not be penalized for violating copyright law. The Fair use rule is a tricky rule, but the main points are: if you are using another’s work for a parody, scholarly intentions, reporting, or non-profit educational uses you are not violating copyright law (Stim, 2007).

So if the author of a work gives you permission to use a work, you can do that without getting sued for copyright infringment, but you still need to cite the source. The only way you can not site a source is if the creation is given to public domain or it is a government document. There are other types of licenses such as shareware or free ware being created recently to combat the restrictive nature of copyright laws. These are mainly for scholarly research which is being published for the enlightenment of others anyway and not for commercial use.

*“Copyright protects “original works of authorship” that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device. Copyrightable works include the following categories:
literary works;
musical works, including any accompanying words
dramatic works, including any accompanying music
pantomimes and choreographic works
pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
motion pictures and other audiovisual works
sound recordings
architectural works” (U.S. Copyright Office, 2006)

Bibliography
Stim, Richard. When Copying is Okay:The "Fair Use" Rule. 2007. 1 October 2007 .
Templeton, Brad. 10 Big Myths About Copyright Explained. October 2004. 1 October 2007 .
U.S. Copyright Office. Copyright. July 2006. 1 October 2007 .