P6

Legislation and Guidelines

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Contents
Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3
Copyright ................................................................................................................................................. 3
What is Copyright................................................................................................................................ 3
How Can Copyrighted Images Be Used ............................................................................................... 3
Copyright free Images ......................................................................................................................... 4
How does it apply to Your Own Work ................................................................................................ 4
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................... 4
Sources .................................................................................................................................................... 4

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Introduction
In this report I will be talking about the legal legislations and copyright laws and how they are
important to consider

Copyright
What is Copyright
Copyright is a legal right and a type of intellectual property, similarly to patents and trademarks, it
allows a person to own the things they create in the same way a physical thing can be owned and it
is a protection against anybody that attempts to copy, reproduce or steal the work of the original
creator and make profit from it.
In the United Kingdom the copyright law that applies is the Copyright, Design and Patents Act of
1988 and the act protects the following categories:
-

Original literary works such as novels or poems or computer programs.

Original musical works.
Original dramatic works such as dances and plays.
Original graphic and artistic works such as painting, digital graphics photographs and
sculptures.
Sound recording.
Films.
Broadcasts.

The copyright owner is the only person that can freely use and distribute the images ah he pleases as
he has the economic and moral rights to them. Economic rights mean that only the owner can
authorise the use of his work and those include the rights to copy the work, distribute copies of it,
rent or lend it, performs or show it, present it to the public or adapt it. Moral rights are rights author
keeps irrespectively of who owns the economic right, they include the right to be identified as the
author or the original creator of the work and a right to not have work that they did not create be
falsely attributed to him and a right to object to any misuse of the work.
The copyright length varies depending on the category of the artwork. For literature, drama, musical
or artistic works it lasts 70 years from the year in which the author died. For typographical
arrangements the copyright lasts 25 years from the date of publishing.

How Can Copyrighted Images Be Used

Copyrighted images can only be used for personal use and may not be sold unless you have
purchased the image which allows you to use for commercial use. Personal usually means that the
use of the images is not for commercial gain where commercial gain may be defined as the usage
for, commercial, promotional, endorsement, advertising or merchandising purposes.
Using copyrighted images without contacting the original owner or paying for the license, can incur
in copyright infringement, examples are:

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Use of whole or part of an image without permission

Use that is not specified by license permission
Adapting the image without permission
Asking another photographer to identically recreate the image

Copyright free Images

Copyright free images mean that the image is not under the protection of copyright laws which
means that the images are free to be used in whichever way the artist desires and can be used for
both commercial and personal use.
However quality of free images may be lower than paid images and also you may not get legal
protection so if a claim rises the customer is responsible for them. Also the suppliers of free images
are unlikely to include inspection process in place, which in turn can increase the likelihood of a
dispute.

How Does it Apply to Your Own Work

Copyright applies to my own work as I might be required to use images in my work as a customer
may have requested or modify an image. So I will need to be aware of what images I can use without
infringing the copyright law.

Conclusion
In conclusion I have talked about the copyright laws and how they affect the digital artists.

Sources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright
http://www.cla.co.uk/copyright_information/copyright_information
http://www.stockphotorights.com/faq/

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