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.
Copyright (c) 1993-2006 Eby Customs. All Rights Reserved
