From the article: If something doesn't have a copyright notice, can it be copied?
There are lots of questions surrounding copyright and the Web. What questions do you have about copyright? Share Your Question
Lucy and the Candy Factory
- I want permission to use this clip. Where can I write for permission? ############################################################################# From Jennifer: you should always go to the website where you found the clip and ask permission there.
- —PegDeCoster
inserting web links
- As a teacher, I would like parents, other teachers, and administrators to click on links from my designed web page. Is that copyright infringement if I'm just inserting a link and it's description? ############################################################################# From Jennifer: It depends upon the country, but in the United States there were several tests of this back in the 2000's and in a nutshell, it was determined that a link to another site was not a copyright violation. However, sites can block you from using trademarked phrases or their logo. As with all of this, if you're in doubt, you should ask the owner.
- —Guest Jill
Copyright on Equipment manuals
- I want to build an educational website that would to show assembly and disassembly procedures of various machineries like a car engine etc.Would I need to get special permission from manufacturer to use their drawings, content from the manufacturer's manual ? ############################################################################# From Jennifer: You would need to ask them directly. It's highly likely that you would need permission to use those images.
- —Guest john
Copyrights
- If i use a picture from some website and upload at mine photo blog with the source information of that image availability on net, does it even come under some offense or copyright?? Can i do it or not. ############################################################################# From Jennifer: This is a clear violation of copyright. If you did not take the photo or are not the copyright holder, then even if you upload it to your own site you are violating their copyright. You MUST ask permission before using someone else's images unless they explicitly state that their images are free to use.
- —Guest shani
forums
- My website ha completly been copied, it now appears on a forum as a paid advertiser. I have contacted the owner and he has refused to takedown his site. Can the forum be accountable and forced to remove this site from their forum.############################################################################# From Jennifer: Yes, the forum should be accountable for that. Follow the instructions in my article "How to Fight Copyright Violations" http://webdesign.about.com/od/copyright/ss/fight_theft.htm - if they use Google either by being indexed by them or their advertising, you should be able to get that forum banned if they won't remove the plagiarized content.
- —Guest daniel
Dena
- Can I print off web pages and send them to my aunt who doesn't have a computer? If I can, is it ok for her to refund me for the paper, ink and postage etc? Many thanks, Dena ############################################################################# From Jennifer: This is a tough one. Many copyright holders wouldn't mind you printing out a couple of their articles and sending them off to your aunt, but if you're planning on doing enough to want reimbursement for the materials, then chances are you're going to make the owners upset. I don't know what cases have been seen regarding this, but printing web pages is often seen as a way of archiving for your own use, which is allowed under copyright law. For example, you can burn a copy of your music files to CD in case your computer dies, but you can't then give that CD to a friend, and you definitely can't sell that CD. Remember that most online authors are paid when their pages are seen online. If you print them out to give to someone who has no computer, you have given away content that they would have otherwise been paid for, and they won't get a new customer in return.
- —Miss_Dena
Assistance required
- ok, i found a software generated image of a voice wave that i intend to use on a company site, if i edit the image in-house and then use it will i be infringing copyright laws of any kind? any assistance would be much appreciated as this really isn't my area of expertise;) ******************************************************************************* From Jennifer: disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and laws in your country may be different. That said, editing a copyrighted work doesn't remove the copyright. The only way to really avoid infringement would be to edit it so heavily that the original piece is no longer recognizable in any fashion. It would be a lot easier to simply ask for permission. That is my recommendation for any time you have a question about copyright -- ask the owner if you can use it. If they say no, then don't use it.
- —Guest Nick
web photos
- If I use non copyrighted photos that I personally took, but they also appear on another website is there any legal issues that can come from it being the other website used them first? ******************************************************************************* From Jennifer: disclaimer: I am not a lawyer and laws in your country may be different. If you took the photos, then you should be able to assign the rights. That said, if you uploaded them to a site that claims all rights, you may be out of luck as most sites like that consider uploading the images to be assigning the rights to them. However, if the site was like Facebook, then you shouldn't have a problem. I believe their terms state that they license the images from you, and if you remove them from FB, they relinquish the license. Check their terms for specifics. But ultimately, if you took the photos, you own the copyright, and can assign those rights as you see fit.
- —Guest dan
Website descritption
- If want to describe what www.beliefnet.com have on their site and the services they offer for a non-fiction novel I am writing. It will all be in my own words. Is that breaking copyright? +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ If you are writing the description yourself, then that is not breaking copyright. -- Jennifer
- —Joby65
how to discuss charactes in books
- On my message board where we discuss romance novels--Can we state the characters name and the author ? ***************************************************************************************** From Jennifer: Sure, that would be fine. People discuss authors and characters on forums all the time. As long as you or your forum members don't paste in long sections of the actual books, that isn't copyright infringement.
- —Guest guest Jayne
I paid for it, is it mine.
- I paid a logo design company to design a logo and website for me. They haven't finished my web-site and won't work on it. Is it mine since I paid for it? #### From Jennifer: this really depends upon the contract you signed with them. But if you paid them and you have a record of that payment, then you are most likely correct, that the logo is yours.
- —Want_2know
Copyright on free articles on the web
- Can i use articles that are advertised as free on the web for a publication? What if it is just a list of tips and guides for something? +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ From Jennifer: If the articles are listed as free for re-use, then you possibly can use them. But you should know that many of these content mills do not get their content from legitimate sources in the first place. Often they receive content that has been copied from somewhere else that did NOT allow re-use. You should read my article: Free Content Isn't Always What It Seems - http://webdesign.about.com/od/freecontent/a/free_dangers.htm
- —Guest Al
Employee Development of IP
- If my full time employee develops a website for my business on business hours, using a business computer, is this my businesses IP? Is there any way for said employee to claim it as their IP? ====================================================================== From Jennifer: If the employee was building the site for your business, then I would say that you would own the IP. However, if there isn't a clause in their contract about who owns intellectual property, they could take you to court about it. However, they would probably lose.
- —faustp
Copyright on Medical Images?
- I want to build a medical website that would use medical diagrams to illustrate cardiology procedures. For an educational site, would I need to get special permissions to use drawings of, for instance, the heart? [From Jennifer: short answer, yes. Longer answer: there are probably sites out there (Flickr may even have some) with Creative Commons licensed images that you can use. But your status as an educational site does not exempt you from copyright concerns. When in doubt, ask for permission from the owner.]
- —Guest cjs
copyright
- I guess my question would be can I use the same idea/concept for a website?? I will not take any content from another site it will be in my own words with my own design. would this infringe on a copyright and should I ask to use the same concept? {{From Jennifer: short answer: you can't copyright an idea. Longer answer: but be careful, because if it looks too much like the other website, they might come after you for stealing their site design - which is copyrighted}}
- —TimothyAG
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