Week 4 EOC: Copyrights.

What is the definition of a copyright?

according to Webster,

copy·right

noun \-ˌrīt\

: the legal right to be the only one to reproduce, publish, and sell a book, musical recording, etc., for a certain period of time.

The next question, was "When is a copyright made?"

Some will tell you, "at the point of creation", but what qualifies as "creation"?

A photographer takes a photograph, and then they own that picture, BUT they go in and alter it before releasing it to the public. In this case, creation would be "upon release".

However, if this same photographer, does not claim the work to be theirs, with the copyright symbol, © and their name, and someone else takes their work and monetizes it, you're not actually breaking the law. Weird isn't it? Especially with the way today's creative minds work, many of them don't even have the thought of trying to protect their work in this way. Many young artists are simply creating their own works, without trying to protect it. Such is the case with many young Deviant Art users.

A copyright is a very complex thing, it is created instantly, yet if the work is unclaimed by the original creator, anyone can monetize their idea, or work. Now, you could hit them with a "Cease and Desist" order. but, if you, and they continue to monetize your work, it can lead to a court case.

I know I'll be utilizing this information to help protect myself from here on. Especially since I know a few people dealing with these issues right now. Some of the Deviant users I mentioned earlier, one of which is having her work stolen, as well as the person starting to claim they are her. Crazy world huh?