But I have been forced to work with copyright and licensing issues for a long time, and have learned a few things that way.
Copyright is the most squirmy snake in the mixed media and paper arts arena, but it doesn’t have to be. Over all, it is easy to understand, and the gray areas are for the courts and the lawmakers to decide. The basic premise is that, as the creator of an original work, you can legally protect that original work from being used by someone else to cause you harm. Even when someone uses another person’s work, and the case gets to court, the court still has to decide whether any harm has been done to the copyright owner (angst doesn’t count for much as “harm”, however).
But greed and misinformation have made such a hodgepodge of the facts (especially in the rubber stamp industry) that nobody can tell which end is up any longer. So, when I see something really crazy come across my desk, I will try to throw a little light out there into the dark abyss of confusion.
It may surprise some of you to know that there are original creations which are not protected by copyright here in the US. For example, most drawings of animals cannot be protected on their own. Why? Because they are icons - well known, well recognized symbols that can’t really be originally recreated.
Take a cat for example. A cat is made up of body, head, tail, whiskers, and two pointed ears, Unless you’re Picasso, those elements end up in relatively the same arrangement when you draw a cat. There are only so many ways to render such a symbol and therefore your cat drawing can probably not be protected by copyright. Now, if the cat is part of a whole drawing with other stuff in it, the drawing probably has enough originality to qualify for copyright. If your cat has feathers, horns, and five legs, you might also have a chance at a copyright, but that’s not a given. And, that’s not a cat.
The alphabet is perhaps the most iconic of icons - used by everyone to communicate. An “A” is made up of certain lines in a certain arrangement. Though there are lots of little differences you can make in the way you draw those lines, there is really no way to make an “A” original enough to qualify as a copyrightable image.
Therefore, typestyles are not protected by copyright law in the United States. (Here is a link to the website of a bunch of folks trying to change that: (http://typeright.org)
I believe in purchasing the fonts I use in my work and I have always done that - even when fonts cost $200-$300 each (way back when). And I use the fonts I purchase to create my products, packaging, marketing materials etc. - because that is the reason I bought them in the first place. And that’s what they are made for. They’re not to gaze at, they’re to use.
So, just imagine my surprise when a fax shows up the other day from a font company (to remain unamed for now) telling me I could not use the font I purchased (also unamed for now) in any commercial products!! They directed me to their “Licensing Agreement” which now says their fonts can be used for “personal use” only. (Said Licensing Agreement had been greatly revised since I bought the font - I never would have bought it otherwise - because I don’t do business with people who know that little about their own industry.)
For example, don’t they know that if their Licensing Agreement held legal water, that every book, magazine, product package. refrigerator magnet. teeshirt and every other product in every store in America would be in violation of copyright law?
Even better, they were faxing me to cease and desist because they had already sold the “exclusive rubber stamp rights” to another rubber stamp company. Talk about buying a pig in a poke! But, too bad for them if they didn’t do their research. Rubber stamps are not a font, they are not competition to fonts, they do no harm to font designers (in fact the exposure is good for font designers) and there is no law saying you can’t make a rubber stamp out of any alphabet letter - no different than using a font in a book or magazine or on a card or magnet. But, their letter to me was especially scary because they had sent a copy of it to someone with “Esq.” at the end of his name. If that stands for attorney, they better have Esquire do a little legal research.
The gist of this article? Purchase the fonts you want to use, for the sake of ethics if for no other reason. They are inexpensive enough these days that there is no excuse to steal them, and their designers deserve to be compensated for their time and talent. Don’t buy exclusive rights to use something that cannot be exclusively licensed. Keep an eye on the ever changing and fascinating arena of copyright law. And don’t try to copyright your cat.
Do you ever wonder what it would be like to live somewhere else? Somewhere “perfect” that has everything your heart desires? Well, this site leads you through an eight page questionnaire asking for your fondest wishes in a place to live. The more honestly you answer the questions, the more interesting the results.
For example, my inclination is to check the box that says opera is important, because I think an “artsy” environment is so critical - but I don’t actually go to the opera, and we have a world class opera right here. So, be real, and then take a virtual tour of the matches that come back. Great fantasy entertainment and armchair travel adventure. (http://findyourspot.com)
