Recommended Posts

Hello, I had a quick question. I sell on Amazon. Everyonce and a while I get emailsfrom other sellers saying remove my items or else. Now some of the.images I have posted are boughten in packs and such. So I would assume that they are just angry that I have the same image with a lower price then they do.

Does anyone know what a copyright acually covers? And does someone have to file papework to get something copyrighted?

Another thing is use the sell one like button on amazon sometimes aswell. So my listings are very similar to another shops items. I.am guessing these arethe people who.are complaining?

Any thoughts, i dont want to step on peoples toes.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Who is sending you emails, other sellers or Amazon? Clipart or vector image packs all have different use guidelines. If you purchased one it probably give you rights to use the image for profit but not to resell the image itself. Another type, usually free to download like fonts will let you download it for free to use but if you are going to make money from it they want you to pay a fee. There are usually readme files or PDF documents included with the files that explain the terms like this.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

And be careful. Just cause someone sells you a disk does NOT mean they really own the rights to the images. There is another thread about this. I know of 1 disk for sure being sold, claiming they own the images and are their work....but I know for a fact not all the images are theirs. You may be able to pawn the blame on them for a bit if sued, but you know where crap always rolls.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
Does anyone know what a copyright acually covers? And does someone have to file papework to get something copyrighted?

 

 

Yes, copyright attorneys know what copyright covers...  ;D  Sorry, couldn't resist.  You can safely assume that any logo or design that you see in commercial use (NFL team logos, Coca-Cola, Harley Davidson, etc.) are all copyrighted and should be avoided.  Also avoid the use of trademarked phrases "Just Do It", "Got Milk?", etc., as they are covered by a different set of intellectual property laws (trademark) and you can be sued for those as well.  You can buy clip art packs, but like Monkey pointed out above, not all clip art collections are completely 100% legal.  If you buy form a reputable name brand then you are probably safe - the most popular clip art collection on ebay is rife with copyright violations - still lots of good art on those discs, but you need to know to avoid anything that looks like a brand logo, licensed cartoon character (so no Calvin peeing on anything!), etc.

 

No, you do not have to file any paperwork to copyright anything.  Once you put it in physical form, either written down, recorded as audio, drawn on the computer, chiseled in stone, etc., it is copyrighted.  Now, if you want to sue for additional damages, you to register your copyright with the copyright office, otherwise you can only force someone to stop and pay minimum damages, plus any legal fees.

 

If anyone tries to tell you that 1,000 other people are doing it, so it's safe, they're wrong.  There are (or at least were) members of this forum who have no understanding of how copyright works and have a biased opinion of how they think it should be, and they tried to push that opinion on other people as if it were fact.  I don't claim to be 100% accurate, so feel free to double-check what I say - I am not a lawyer.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Not just a lawyer but a specialized lawyer. Extremely complicated for the rest of us to fully understand. The simple answer is if you don't have written permission or didn't create it then using it is probably illegal. Like I said before we all have our threshold as to how risky we want to be but if in doubt know the risks before messing around.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

You all shed some.light on my tboughts. I did not know that knce its made it is stated to be copywritten. This is good to know.

The ones who are emailing me are other sellers not Amazon themselves. And some of the ones they email about I know for. A fact are general handout items that I have and prolly everyone else has and uses. I think some people are angry because I have what they have. Not sure though.

But good to know aboutcopyrights. As I have my own work aswell and I dont need it to be copied and used either.

I did read however some where dont remeber where but it was a law site.that direct images can not be used but if included in anotheris fine. Example would be a.dog peeing on a ford or dodge emblem. Atleast thats what so called lawers were saying. If in fact they were lawyer. Its the.internet who knows.

Thanks Guys

Been helpful. Its appreciated.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There is a famous story about an Israeli-born guy who started a computer company in the USA.

His name was Uzi Nissan.

 

You can go to Nissan.com (yep) and read about his legal troubles.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites
 I did read however some where dont remeber where but it was a law site.that direct images can not be used but if included in anotheris fine. Example would be a.dog peeing on a ford or dodge emblem.

 

That is incorrect.  There is such a thing as "Fair Use" where you can use copyrighted material in certain ways, such as a parody, or for demonstrative or educational purposes, but most of those ways do not apply to retail products.

 

If you're making an <anything> peeing on Ford, Chevy, Dodge, or other logos, then you're violating the copyright of Ford, Chevy, Dodge, etc.  Even if you're not selling the decals and are making them for yourself or to give to friends, it's still technically an infringement.

 

The only way to avoid that is to not use the logos and use the name of the company - so a design of a dog peeing on the word Ford is not a copyright infringement (unless the dog is copyrighted!) but the same dog peeing on the Ford logo is a copyright issue.  You also need to stay away from using fonts and colors that are specific to the brand names - it does not need to be an exact match to be considered  a violation of copyright or trademark law - if the average person could mistake your design for the original, then it's probably a violation.

 

To be safe, your best bet is to simply avoid anything with a recognizable name brand or logo - No college or professional sport team logos, no automobile brands, no band names, no Monster energy drink logos, no FOX Racing logos, no DeWalt logos, absolutely nothing with "Harley", "Davidson", "HD" or any combination thereof, etc. without consulting an attorney specializing in copyright and trademark law first.  If you don't talk to the attorney first and go ahead and do it, then you'll probably end up having to pay an attorney later, if you know what I mean...

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

There is a famous story about an Israeli-born guy who started a computer company in the USA.

His name was Uzi Nissan.

 

You can go to Nissan.com (yep) and read about his legal troubles.

There was a McDonald's fine dining restraunt, in Scotland I believe, that had simulare problem when McDonald's the fast food chain tried to sue them. They got such bad press over it that it was eventually dropped if I recall correctly.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now