Thread: Is this a cheek?

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ok I designed some potion labels last year and I saw this on Etsy

http://ny-image2.etsy.com/il_fullxfull.172783794.jpg

I'm sure that's my spider spawn and eye of newt (has a different pic but hmm) labesl I designed edited..lol

kinda bl..dy cheeky when I gave them away for free in this forum. ok so they're not the best labels but still..Maybe I'm paranoid but I imagine a lot of the free graphics we've provided in here end up sold.

this is mine
http://www.scaryrednecks.com/blog/Im...piderspawn.jpg

Not sure what Copy Right are in the UK , but in the US I think someone only needs to change the art by like 20% & it's Ok for them to use. Sad, really. I'm not sure on how to stop it without becoming a bigger Wanker in the process. Inspiration among friends is a Great thing, Lazy like that who needs enemies. Great Art, keep the faith.

Yeah, when you post it for free, you can't expect it not to end up all over the web I suppose. I've seen love manor ones on their too. It just annoys me that people profit from those when he kindly gives them away for free.

Imitation is the highest form of flattery. (?)

They made it hard to tell because of the difference in resolution, but to my best estimation they directly copied your design, then laid a different spider over the middle spider and added some (not very good) embellishments. You can be sure by looking at the lowest-left leg of the underlying spider and how it lines up with the letters in "Spider" as well as the font used for "Spider Spawn", which by-the-way doesn't match their [new] Whimsicalmusings text's font.

A rip off, for sure. They didn't even do a very good job of it. I have thousands of hours of image manipulation under my belt (as a hobby) and I can tell you that there is no way they would pick the same phrase, same spider, the same font, AND line them up in the same way(especially since "Spider Spawn" is not centered in either.) They absolutely took your work and changed it.

Unfortunately, this has happened on EVERY forum I have ever been on. There is always going to be someone that feels that it is ok, since they change it some, to use someone elses idea to make money. Even if you ask them not to, they feel it is their priviledge and right to do so.

It will never end and hopefully it won't stop the sharing.

Actually, in the US, the copyright law would call that "derivative work" and you would have a case to force them to not use that label under certain circumstances.

A “derivative work” is a work based upon one or more pre-existing works, such as a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization, motion picture version, sound recording, art reproduction, abridgment, condensation, or any other form in which a work may be recast, transformed, or adapted. A work consisting of editorial revisions, annotations, elaborations, or other modifications which, as a whole, represent an original work of authorship, is a “derivative work."

So what that means in layman's terms is that it's okay to use someone's artwork (writing, music) as a jumping off point for their own work, as long as they got PERMISSION to do so from the original creator. BUT this really only applies in copyrighted materials - just because you created something, you do not have a registered copyright to it.

In the US:
http://www.ehow.com/how_2153636_copyright-art.html

Understand that a copyright only protects the physical aspects of your art and does not cover any intangible properties of it, such as ideas or concepts.

That means that you created a spider label and had a specific phrasing of the words on it with a certain colored background. So someone else comes along and has created a spider label with something similar in look to yours, but didn't use your phrasing and used completely different artwork (even if it looks similar) then they would probably be okay - especially in the case of potion bottle labels. We all have a certain idea of what they look like (yellowed paper label, funky type, aged).

HOWEVER, it is pretty obvious to me that this person on etsy DID in fact take the label you made and just add a few things (and took away the "Dreldragon's" text) and is now selling these. (I do graphics for a living, and it most definitely looks like she is using your actual label)

This would be the same as you knitting a few sweaters and gave them away, and this person came along and got some free sweaters, then sewed in a label saying she made them and is now selling them.


The big problem here is that unless you drew the spider and created the paper image as well, YOU are technically in violation of creating a derivative work and distributing it. Even if you gave it away for free, the original creators of those pieces - even if in a clip art set - probably had specific rules of usage, which allowed for personal use, but not distribution.

You COULD try emailing the seller and telling them that you are aware that they are using label that you created and made available for free and that she is in violation of the US copyright act (Etsy is in the US and follows the US guidelines) and ask them to stop selling them. At the very least, you can tell her that she needs to stop using them unless she drew EVERYTHING herself as you yourself used images that were NOT approved for distribution and sale and if you can't enforce it, the creators of those probably will when they catch her.

Etsy DOES have a remedy to this:

http://help.etsy.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/263
http://www.etsy.com/copyright_policy.php

How much do I have to change in order to claim copyright in someone else's work?
There’s a myth that if you change 30% of someone else’s work, you will be able to claim a copyright in that work. This is a myth. Only the owner of the copyright in a work has the right to prepare, or to authorize someone else to create, a new version of that work. Accordingly, without the owner’s consent you cannot claim copyright to another’s work, no matter how much you change it.

What if I’m outside of the United States?
This information relates to the law of the United States. However, the United States has copyright relations with most, but not all, countries throughout the world, and as a result of these agreements, the U.S. honors certain other copyrights. For a listing of countries and the nature of their copyright relations with the United States, visit www.copyright.gov and see Circular 38a, International Copyright Relations of the United States.

Sticky, sticky subject. (can you tell I have way too much time on my hands? Had to take classes on this and everything...)

Looks like it was copied to me. Sorry to see this happen.

Some people have a lot of nerve.

You're kidding me. That IS a cheek.