a great excerpt from Tandika's latest DigiScrapDesigner newsletter:
And now a few words about Intellectual Property Rights: Just because something is on the Internet doesn't mean that it is also Public Domain. There is a difference between the two. When an artist, writer, photographer, designer, musician or programmer makes something, the act of creation assures them of a copyright on their creation. They have Intellectual Property Rights to that creation. They can choose to specifically place their creation in the "Public Domain". The majority of creators do not do this. However, they MAY choose to place their creation on their own or another website where it can be seen, heard and appreciated by others. This does not mean that another person may then take that creation and use it in any way they please. It also does not mean that someone else can take that creation and give it, even in it's original form to someone else. It DOES mean that someone can tell their friends "Go here and look at this!" And usually, that is exactly what the creator had in mind. That you WOULD tell others to "Go here and look". The way you would "share" something created by another person is to tell them to "Go here and look".
Making changes in something that wasn't originally created by you, and then sharing that changed item is a bit harder for people to understand. After all, they aren't distributing the original work... they are distributing a "changed" version! Let's say you find 10 photographs of roses on your favorite photography site. Then you "change" all of these pictures into brushes to be used in Photoshop, or you make them into tubes to be used in PaintShopPro. And you are distributing the brushes, or the tubes... not the photographs! Well, you are violating the Intellectual Property Rights of the person who made took the original photographs! You didn't have the rights to them in the first place, so you are not allowed to distribute them in ANY form, original OR changed! And it doesn't matter how much you change the original. There is NO rule that says "if you change an original XX%, then it is now considered your work."
The bottom line is: You are allowed to do whatever you want to with anything that YOU have created completely from scratch. You may NOT do anything at all with something that is created by another person without their explicit (normally in writing) permission. Period. When you look at it that way, it is very, very easy to understand. There is no grey area.
Keep in mind that Intellectual Property Rights don't just apply to artwork. They also apply to books, magazines, movies, music, TV shows, and everything else that is "created" by an individual! Your public library doesn't make many copies of a book and then let you borrow them. They purchase the original book and let you use it temporarily. This same concept applies to everything you read and see on the Internet. You can not make a copy of it and give away or share the copy without the permission of the owner. You CAN send someone a link to the item itself.
So, now I will put away my seldom used soapbox and return you to our regularly scheduled show!
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thank you, Tandika, for giving me permission to quote you. The bolded sections are my own emphasis.
