Searching for the great image
When searching for that great image online it’s easy and tempting to simply right click and copy any image you find. There is no warning signal or stop sign that appears with a message asking, “Yes, you can take this image, but should you?”Finding images online, and then what you do with them, poses legal questions as well as ethical ones that touch upon issues of integrity and morality. The ease with which internet surfers can grab images encourages copyright infringement. It doesn’t necessarily take that much more time to search through resources that provide images that aren’t in violation of copyright law.Creative Commons is one place where you can start. A non-profit organization that was founded by Larry Lessig, Creative Commons offers free tools that enable the sharing of images with a variety of options. Users can give permission to use their images with options like “some rights reserved.” Those seeking images can go to Creative Commons Search and find a number of resources that provide images utilizing Creative Commons licenses.If you decide to start where most of us do, Google, go one step further to Google’s Advanced Image Search. Here you’ll find a tool that not only let’s you search by format, language, geography, and more, but also by usage rights.There are a number of sites that offer free stock images. A post by Smashing Magazine lists a directory of sites offering free images for both personal and commercial use. This is in addition to the plethora of stock photography sites that offer a wide range of purchasing and licensing options for both royalty free images as well as for rights managed images.Another option internet surfers can try are images that are in the public domain. MakeUseOf has a list of 6 Free Website For Public Domain Images & Free Stock Photos.The last thing that users should consider is asking for permission. If you find an image that’s copyright protected, you can ask for permission to use it. Depending on how and why you are using it, you just may find the copyright owner is happy to share the image along with a photo credit.
Is using Pinterest in your best interest?
Interest and use of Pintinterest, a relatively new social media tool, has grown exponentially over the past few months.
“Woe to you! You thieves and imitators of other people's labour and talents.Beware of laying your audacious hand on this artwork.”—Albrecht Durer
Interest and use of Pintinterest, a relatively new social media tool, has grown exponentially over the past few months. The site drew 23.7 million unique visitors in February, up from 3.5 million in September, according to research firm Nielsen. Another firm, Experian Marketing Services, ranks Pinterest as the third-most-popular social networking site, behind Facebook and Twitter.(1) From blog posts like “16 Ways Educators Use Pinterest,” to online advice from Inc, “9 Tips: Boost Your Business with Pinterest,” Pinterest is being touted as the latest and greatest social media tool.If you're not familiar with it, Pinterest is an online tool that lets you share visual content quickly and easily. It requires membership by invitation only. Once accepted members get a special copying tool (pinmarklet) and they are encouraged to use it to copy content from other websites to Pinterest's website. Some people are complaining that Pinterest doesn't create content for their own website—their members find it for them.With all of this gathering and sharing of content questions have been raised about whether its practices with regard to copyright law are in the best interest of its users. Copyright issues and terms of use have been a topic debate since the site's launch last September and they have modified their terms in response. Pinterest has a page on their site named Pin Etiquette with “Credit Your Sources” listed as number three. They also let their users know under their Terms of Service about their responsibility for content they post and give them a link to their Acceptable Use Policy which contains a fairly lengthy list of legalese. This information is there if their users seek it out, however, critics complain that Pinterest does not ask users to consider permissions before each "pin," aiming to make the user experience seamless. While having your content shared helps popularize it, many feel that the content creators, designers, artists, and photographers, should be asked or paid first.Some organizations, like the Artists Bill of Rights, are questioning the legalities of Pinterest and whether or not it is in the best interest of content creators. In a blog post entitled "Pinterest versus Ethics and the Law - Part 1" they refer to artist Albrecht Durer's warning, “Woe to you! You thieves and imitators of other people's labour and talents. Beware of laying your audacious hand on this artwork.” They state that, "Even at over five hundred years old this is still a message for our time. Works of art are an expression of the makers' soul, they are part of the authors being, and it is for these reasons that all people on earth are granted the human right of copyright. Copyright gives each of us the exclusive right to choose who can, and who cannot, distribute our works."(2)Others, like Brooke Isabel Gushen in her blog post "Pinterest, a Social Media Website, Shifts its Terms of Use," are talking about the cultural implications along with the legal issues. Gushen refers to Larry Lessig's TED Talk where he discusses the creativity that comes from remixing in our contemporary culture. Taking great things from the past and recreating them into something new that reflects our experience is the hallmark of today‘s generation. In his talk Lessig refers to what now look like ridiculous objections to progress from the past, like John Philip Sousa's horrified response to the "talking machine," and makes a plea for copyright law to be based on common sense.What do you think? Is Pinterest an innovative new tool that benefits its users and is a reflection of contemporary culture, or is it a manipulative social media tool that leads its users down a road of copyright infringement and is damaging to visual content creators?Notes:(1) http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/12/business/la-fi-pinterest-20120413(2) http://artists-bill-of-rights.org/news/campaign-news/pinterest-versus-ethics-and-the-law-%11-part-1/ Sources:http://articles.latimes.com/2012/apr/12/business/la-fi-pinterest-20120413http://www.personal.psu.edu/big5040/blogs/brooke_gushen_-_technical_writing/2012/03/pinterest-a-social-media-website-shifts-its-terms-of-use.htmlhttp://artists-bill-of-rights.org/news/campaign-news/pinterest-versus-ethics-and-the-law-%11-part-2/http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/250700/what_you_should_know_about_pinterest_and_copyright.htmlhttp://www.inc.com/john-brandon/9-tips-boost-your-business-pinterest.htmlhttp://mashable.com/2012/03/
Un-hate, or unethical?
Benetton's recent release of the "Unhate" ad campaign has caused a firestorm of controversy. The goal of their campaign is a worthy one—to contribute to a new culture of tolerance and to combat hatred. The UNHATE Campaign is the first in a series of initiatives involving community. In addition to the UNHATE Campaign, the UNHATE Foundation, founded by the Benetton Group, is planning a Global "UNHATE Day" with events scheduled for 50 different cities around the world, including Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Other initiatives include "Art for Tolerance," which will support the talent and work of young people living in areas where hatred has generated social injustice and conflicts.Unfortunately, one of the first efforts of their campaign has already been recalled. The photoshopped image of the Pope and Al-Azhar Mosque locked in a kiss caused the Vatican to respond with furious protests. Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi stated, "This is a grave lack of respect for the Pope. We cannot help but express a resolute protest at the entirely unacceptable use of a manipulated image of the Holy Father, used as part of a publicity campaign which has commercial ends.” The Vatican demanded that the image be removed from the campaign and is taking legal action to ensure the doctored image isn't distributed.The White House also released a statement that they have a long-standing policy disapproving of the use of the president's name and likeness for commercial purposes. Despite this, Benetton ads showing President Obama kissing Hugo Chavez are expected to appear in upcoming issues of "Newsweek," "New York Magazine," and the "Economist." Sources say that Benetton did run it by their legal department, getting informed about the consequences they could expect to face when receiving complaints.Benetton has a long history of using advertising to promote social messages. In the 1990s Tibor Kalman created "The United Colors of Benetton," a product-based series of multicultural kids promoting ethnic and racial harmony. Next came the creation of Colors, a magazine produced by Benetton for which Kalman became editor-in-chief. The goal for Benetton was to suggest they had a social conscience. The goal for Kalman was to create a platform for socio-economic issues.What do you think about the UNHATE campaign? Did they intentionally proceed with what many view as unethical behavior through photo manipulation, ignoring image usage rights to promote tolerance and influence culture, or is it merely a means to a commercial end—and bad use of photoshop as many contend?Sources:http://unhate.benetton.com/foundation/http://unhate.benetton.com/http://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/fashion/benetton-yanks-smooching-pope-ad-unhate-campaign-vatican-threatened-legal-action-article-1.979430?localLinksEnabled=falsehttp://www.missfashionnews.com/2011/11/16/unhate-benetton/http://www.aiga.org/medalist-tiborkalman/
Ask the Lawyer
Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts (VLA) is a non-profit site that was founded in 1969 to provide legal,educational, and advocacy support to low-income artists and arts organizations. In 2010, VLA launched AskTheLawyer.com to archive and present basic and pertinent legal information to arts and legal professionals.Organized in four sections—Topics, Glossary, Resources, and Contact—the site is controlled and operated from the United States and may not be appropriate or available for use in any particular jurisdiction other than the United States. When accessing the site users are cautioned that while information concerns legal issues, it is not legal advice, nor does it constitute an attorney-client relationship.Topics includes information about copyright and trademark along with contracts and first amendment issues. The Glossary offers definitions of legal terms used. Resources contains links for contracts, copyright, trademarks, for-profit and nonprofit corporations throughout the U.S. The Contact page lists the address and phone numbers for VLA.Source: http://askthelawyer.info/
Yale launches "Open Access" policy
Yale University has announced open access to online images of millions of objects housed in their museums, archives, and libraries. With their new policy they are also the first Ivy League university to make high quality digital images of their vast cultural heritage collections in the public domain openly and freely available.Yale's collections are among the strongest in depth and breadth of any academic institution in the world.Meg Bellinger, director of the Yale Office of Digital Assets and Infrastructure (ODAI) says that increased access to high-quality content and new linked data technologies will revolutionize the way people search and relate to cultural objects.View a sampling of their collection in this Open Access Slideshow.Source: http://news.yale.edu/2011/05/10/digital-images-yale-s-vast-cultural-collections-now-available-free