Copyright

[Dlemon]

Asking for a friend of mine who's interested, I would like no know exactly how to get something copyrighted. My friend is an artist just starting out and is confused about these copyright laws, and I cant seem to find what I'm looking for on the web. He tried to do a web comic before but it kinda failed as is looking towards making a new, better one, but want's to get the story copyrighted so no one steals it. So I'm basically asking, how do web comic artists, or artists in general, get there art copyrighted. I'd think, instead of doing that to every piece of work they do, they copyright the story, characters, and the artwork.

Could anyone please clarify this for us?

[supervanman64]

I'm no expert on copyright, but I thought that if something is on the internet, it counts as a copywrited thing anyway.

You might want a second opinion on that, though.

[Ashpool]

I'm no expert on copyright, but I thought that if something is on the internet, it counts as a copywrited thing anyway.

You might want a second opinion on that, though.

Technically I believe this is true, but without some type of proof it won't hold up in court. I'd suggest looking up the concept of Common Law Copyright if he wants to protect something simple.

[Dlemon]

I'm no expert on copyright, but I thought that if something is on the internet, it counts as a copywrited thing anyway.

You might want a second opinion on that, though.

Technically I believe this is true, but without some type of proof it won't hold up in court. I'd suggest looking up the concept of Common Law Copyright if he wants to protect something simple.

Proof like a signature on his artwork? I'd think that's proof enough. I'll look up some of this stuff, it kind of gets confusing since I'm not familiar with the terminology.

He said thanks, and that any additional info would be great.

[Ashpool]

sometimes that isn't enough. It's become very easy to remove a signature and photoshop someone else's in, making it impossible to tell who the original artist is. I suggest looking it up somewhere because I am not a lawyer, but Common Law Copyrights involve mailing yourself a copy of the work via certified mail and not opening the copy, that way you have a dated and signed original that you could use in the event that you had to defend the copyright in court. Again, however, I highly suggest looking it up and seeking more professional advice because I am not a lawyer. :P

[FastChapter]

An easy way to copyright anything you've created is to make a carbon copy, put it in an envelope and mail it to yourself from a post office drop box. The postmark on the envelope can be used as proof that you owned it at a specific date. Its a $0.42 copyright and is water tight.

[Luca Fox]

What FastChapter says is true, but it doesn't really matter unless you're rich like Disney because you won't be able to afford going to court.

[Harb]

What FastChapter says is true, but it doesn't really matter unless you're rich like Disney because you won't be able to afford going to court.

try to sue something illegally distributed out of the internet, good luck...

[FastChapter]

Put watermarks on the artwork, then. If you upload your art onto the net with nothing but a signature that can be photoshopped off the image, you're going to have people go and tell their friends that they drew it. Its the internet, kids do that kind of stuff.

[Fireball0236]

Watermarks aren't foolproof against those who would really want to steal though.

[Demus]

Watermarks aren't foolproof against those who would really want to steal though.

Not foolproof, but I say it'd be the darnest thing you'd ever see if someone actually bothered to. Removing a watermark can get frustrating if done right

[Fireball0236]

You speak from experience? .

The unfortunate things about watermarks is that they will usually also be a bit annoying for normal viewers (and small watermarks wouldn't be a problem getting rid off).

[Luca Fox]

People on Lulz remove watermarks all the time. It's like the mark was never there by the time they're done with it.

Watermarks really ruin the picture anyways.

[Chi-Yu]

Put watermarks on the artwork, then. If you upload your art onto the net with nothing but a signature that can be photoshopped off the image, you're going to have people go and tell their friends that they drew it. Its the internet, kids do that kind of stuff.

And that's why we need a way to punch people in the face over standard TCP/IP.

Some of these kids are so ridiculously stupid that a punch in the face would be the only way to make them realize that they did something wrong. They won't understand what it means to put a lot of effort into something and then seeing somebody else taking all the credit for it because they never had to work for something really hard.

They should have their computer taken away and the only chance to get it back would be putting the same amount of effort into something as the person they stole from.

And they should be punished for pirating PhotoShop. If there is software which costs more than 1000 dollars and I don't have 1000 dollars, this means that I can't have it. It really is THAT simple. Why would I need PhotoShop when there is free software which might not have all the functions that PhotoShop has but has all the functions I really need to do what I want?

[Luca Fox]

I see no problem with pirating Photoshop.