Legal Disclaimer & Copyright Notice
Eby Customs 1993 -2005. All rights reserved.
This website and any information available from this website may be protected by copyright.
Any unauthorized use, publication, copying, distribution or exploitation of such information is prohibited.
PIRACY
You cannot use copyrighted images without permission. Period.
Copyright laws provide for statutory penalties of up to $150,000 per infringement. "Borrow" a picture that you should have paid $29 for? Who's going to know, right? Somebody "catches" you, you pony up the $29 bucks, right? Nope. You have "infringed" a legal copyright, and THAT's what they're going to come after you for: $150,000.
"Intellectual Property" issues are different from a lot of things in the rest of the world. ("Intellectual Property" is how the law describes things like books, poems, symphonies and...photos.) In the rest of the world, if somebody thinks you stole something, they have to prove you did. In the world of "copyright infringement", you have to prove that you DIDN'T. Yep.
Let's say, for example, that someone sees one of their pictures used on your website. They can prove that it is, indeed, their picture. They own the copyright on it. They can make a demand that you prove that you have legally acquired the right to use the picture. If you can't prove it (usually in the form of a paid invoice) you're in big trouble. Very big.
What does "Intellectual Property" mean?
"Intellectual property" refers to original creations in the fields of literature and the arts. Most countries in the world provide automatic copyright protection to any item of intellectual property at the instant the item is created. At the instant a photo is taken, it automatically becomes the "intellectual property" of the photographer who took it. It makes no difference what the subject is or why the photograph was taken.
What is "copyright infringement", anyway?
Legally, the person who holds the copyright to a photo has the absolute right to control how you use that photo -- or to deny you the right to use that photo at all. Any unauthorized usage is an "infringement" of the copyright. This INCLUDES using the picture for "reference" in a derivative work. It also includes use of images BEYOND that which has been legitimately purchased. For example, offering images for resale without first obtaining a template license would be an infringement of copyright.
Many people don't realize just how all-encompassing a copyright is. For example, there's a common misconception that any image appearing on a website may be downloaded and "saved" to disk. This is absolutely not the case. The very act of saving a copyrighted image to your local disk -- regardless of whether you ever do anything else with the image or not -- constitutes a copyright infringement -- minor, perhaps, and done all the time, but an infringement nonetheless. And infringements large and small are "actionable" (i.e., can be grounds for a lawsuit.)
On this website, you are specifically NOT allowed to use the images in ANY way, unless you secure the proper "copyright"
permission to do so.
Why are penalties for copyright infringement so severe?
Copyright laws exist to encourage people to be creative by giving them the right to control -- and benefit from -- the products of that creativity. Because it's so easy these days for one person to "steal" the creative output of somebody else, lawmakers have recognized that for copyright laws to be effective, they must have real teeth.
If copyright infringement resulted in nothing but a slap on the wrist, there are unfortunately those who would say to themselves, "If I get caught, I'll just pay the fine and consider it a cost of doing business." Lawmakers in the US have figured that $150,000.00 -- the maximum fine that can be awarded per infringement -- is a figure large enough to discourage that attitude in most people. So, if you have larceny in your heart, think twice! One hundred and fifty thousand dollars!
Automatic Copyright
Under the present copyright law, copyright exists in original works of authorship created and fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly, or indirectly with the aid of a machine or device. In other words, copyright is an incident of creative authorship.
Why are penalties for copyright infringement so severe?
Copyright laws exist to encourage people to be creative by giving them the right to control -- and benefit from -- the products of that creativity. Because it's so easy these days for one person to "steal" the creative output of somebody else, lawmakers have recognized that for copyright laws to be effective, they must have real teeth.
If copyright infringement resulted in nothing but a slap on the wrist, there are unfortunately those who would say to themselves, "If I get caught, I'll just pay the fine and consider it a cost of doing business." Lawmakers in the US have figured that $150,000.00 -- the maximum fine that can be awarded per infringement -- is a figure large enough to discourage that attitude in most people. So, if you have larceny in your heart, think twice! One hundred and fifty thousand dollars!
Automatic Copyright
Under the present copyright law, copyright exists in original works of authorship created and fixed in any tangible medium of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly, or indirectly with the aid of a machine or device. In other words, copyright is an incident of creative authorship.
Copyright (c) 1992-2016 Eby Customs. All Rights Reserved
