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using work of others


ComedyLover

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hi i read this thread and i got question in mind
i use photoshop to make sigs and stuff there i use anime character i download from internet and i render it and change the background and the concept sometimes i am wondering if there is any thing wrong with doing that
 

Deepan Falcon

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as a newb here.. my opinion is tht der is nothing wrong in doin tht.however if u are doin soemthing for commercial purpose be sure to use the free images,,also creating ur own images helps u learn new stuffs
 

IamSam

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Hey CL,

Since I'm probably the one who motivated this thread topic for you, then I will answer you here.

First, I do not represent this forums ethical standards when it comes to copyright infringement. So I will leave that to the moderators and administration to define.

I do however believe that there is a very fine line that must be walked when it comes to using others work in our own. As long as we are not benefiting *********ly. (f i n a n c i a l l y) or otherwise exploiting others work, or derivations thereof, then I think, although it's not legal, were probably OK. I think there should be attributions to the original artist, photographer, or author.

I do have issues with anyone who simply combines two or more copyrighted images, merges them together with little to no obvious changes, then renders it as one single image and posts it under the guise of being their own original work. Is this legal..........not for me to decide. Is it fine with forum administration.....again, not for me to decide.

Use stock photos or your own.

PLEASE READ THIS: The Seven Deadly Myths of Internet Copyright
 

ibclare

Queen Bee
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If you display your work, give credit whenever possible, not always possible. For example, you may find an image on a travel site, a government site, or some other commercial site which gives no credits. Can't help this. I try to find images that are available whenever possible instead of something I can't attribute. There are sources for tons of free imagery. My favorite is deviantart.com. There are some images which are for sale only, but the majority are free downloads. Almost all the artists require that you credit them and provide a link to their site. Some want you to provide a comment on their page about using it and how you did so, etc. All depends on the artist/photographer.

There's always discussion as to what is legal, such as if you alter an image some percentage, is it yours? Personally I don't think so. I make many compositions of which most of the components are someone else's work, but you can still recognize many of the individual parts.

At PSG, we discourage copyright infringement. The ethics have been decided by staff, but even more so by the general attitude of our membership as a whole, by discussions and the expected practice of attribution. It's difficult for us to keep up with every image posted. Some of our members report blatant plagiarism. That's helpful. Tin eye will find some if the image hasn't been too greatly altered. Which again brings up the question of whether it is legal or ethical to manipulate someone's work without their consent. I try to take the safe route and go to sites that offer their images for free to use any way you desire.

Someone who violates this will receive a warning letter. Repeated behavior will earn an infraction. Blatant disregard will probably get a member banned for this practice.
 

inkpad.t

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In addition to what has alreday been said one of things you should do is contact the owner of the original image, i use sxu which is a good source of images to use (http://www.sxc.hu/ )


Once i found an image i like even if i just down load it for future use i ALWAYS contact the owner and explain EXACTLY what i will be using the image for with their permission, you have to sign up to the site to do things like this but its free, once your a member you can contact them through the sites email service.


I ALLWAYS state in the email what i will be using the image for but ADD that at some point i want to be able to sell the final image that i will create, this includes any manipulations that might be sold on a web site such as the likes of DeviantArt...


The other thing i do is keep the e-mail back from them stating if its OK to use the image... this can be printed out if ever req to show that you ask permission.

There are many sites like sxu that provide images like this and would recd you do the same for all sites / providers that you use images from.


Although public domain images are free to use they might still have copy right with them, not all public domain images can just be abused at will, just be carefull where you get the image from that states you can use it.


ALL in ALL you are better getting the full permission from the owner before downloading and using the image.


Oh yeh, where ever you post your image/works that contain other peoples work you must give atribution and post links back to them if they req it or you are actualy ( as far as i am aware ) breaking what is really a contract between you and them to use the image.
 

ibclare

Queen Bee
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Very well stated inkpad.

Just one point I want to make: most artists on deviantart have statements about how you may use their art and do not always want you to contact them.
 

ComedyLover

Well-Known Member
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most of the images i use are from places like zerochan.net or even from facebook pages (public stuff) so finding owner isnt easy thing , i only use anime so no commercial stuff

one more thing i dont use photoshop for commercial use what so ever it just a hobby
 

dv8_fx

Retired Administrator
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Even for personal use as a hobby, using an image pulled from the net may be subject to international or local copyright laws.

What has been outlined by others are good advice. Your best bet is to use images from sites that offer royalty free stock images.

In your case of anime image work, it is good practice to contact the creator of the images you intend to use. But in the event, you can't get in touch, you MUST give credit to the original creator .

I am sure that there are a lot of forums around where people post their original creations. It would be good to find and bookmark these sites for future visits for source material and reference.
 

Rob_IMX

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As long as it's not commercial, you're ok!

If you want to use stuff commercially, then you're better off using stock photography (that you've paid for) or public domain images that have no copyright.
 

inkpad.t

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again adding to whats allready said...

IF you use someone elses image and your just playing around with it and putting on the lap top,your wall or what ever and no else uses sees it uses it then thats probly ok as no one knows you have used it....

If you post what you create on this site or any other for people to see then there is the possability if not a probablility that you need permission or need to credit the author.

Going back to public domain images.... if there is a real person in the picture/image you are going to use even if the image is in the public domain there might not be a model release with the image, in this case you are better off leaving it alone or again finding the author to confirm it's use.

If a picture has a trade mark with in it, you might still not be able to use it and you need get that clarified before using it.

In ALL cases if your going to display an image on the net that has been used from some else..GET THERE PERMISSION.

I know you stated its just personal, but what if some one took one of your pics and photoshoped it into something you did not want or like or agree with, what would you do as you did not know someone had done it and found it online or stumbled on it or freind told you they found it...

What people are trying to say is be carefull what images and whos images your using so you do not get any come back.read the image usage policy from any site you use which should in most cases clarify it.
 

Tom Mann

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Earlier in this thread someone said, "Your best bet is to use images from sites that offer royalty free stock images."

There is a lot of misconception centered around the meaning of the phrase, "royalty free".

"Royalty free" does NOT mean that you that you can use the image without payment to the copyright holder or their agent / stock agency / etc. It means that you pay only once and don't have to continue to pay royalties.

A good explanation is here: http://blog.microstockgroup.com/royalty-free-photos-what-does-that-mean/

This approach to licensing is to be contrasted with "rights managed" licenses, ie, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rights_Managed . One usually can get a clue whether or not the speaker understands this difference if they say, "royalty free image" vs saying, "a royalty free license".


BTW, I heartily second the recommendation of IamSam to read and follow the advice given in: http://webnet77.com/webstuff/copyright.html . Many other similar authoritative sources exist, but this is a particularly nice summary.

In contrast, if you operate under some of the policies suggested earlier in this thread, eg, "It's OK if it's non-commercial", "No one will ever see it", or your own made-up, wishful thinking rules, e.g, "I'm exempt because my post processing makes it a derivative work" or "My posting is exempt under 'fair use' ", there's a very good chance you will indeed get away with the infringement, but you if you are un-lucky, you may not.

Finally, to help protect the owners of this forum from a claim (frivolous or not) that the forum itself is an infringer by allowing copyright protected material to be posted, I suggest that the TOS of "Photoshopgurus.com" be modified to include text to the effect that:

(a) The forum does not have the resources to check the copyright / licensing status of every image posted here, so the individual posters assume full responsibility for adherence to copyright law;

(b) Anyone who posts an image on this site gives other users the right modify that image and re-post it to this site for the purpose of demonstrating technique; and,

(c) Make the TOS easier to find. I just Googled {TOS site:photoshopgurus.com} and couldn't find the page.


HTH,

Tom M
 

dv8_fx

Retired Administrator
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Finally, to help protect the owners of this forum from a claim (frivolous or not) that the forum itself is an infringer by allowing copyright protected material to be posted, I suggest that the TOS of "Photoshopgurus.com" be modified to include text to the effect that:

(a) The forum does not have the resources to check the copyright / licensing status of every image posted here, so the individual posters assume full responsibility for adherence to copyright law;

(b) Anyone who posts an image on this site gives other users the right modify that image and re-post it to this site for the purpose of demonstrating technique; and,

(c) Make the TOS easier to find. I just Googled {TOS site:photoshopgurus.com} and couldn't find the page.


HTH,

Tom M

Excellent point , Tom. Will look into this.
 

ibclare

Queen Bee
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most of the images i use are from places like zerochan.net or even from facebook pages (public stuff) so finding owner isnt easy thing , i only use anime so no commercial stuff

one more thing i don't use photoshop for commercial use what so ever it just a hobby

I hear ya. Many of us, if not most, are hobbyists (don't mash me if that isn't true). Certainly, my composite manipulations are for personal use or as part of the forum challenges and so forth. Unlike IamSam, I don't think I have the energy to try that, lol.

The deciding factor IMO is whether you turn around and publish your new work, composed of others' work - anywhere! on the web on a forum or deviantart.com type gallery, in blogs in paper magazines, any form of written expression - you are ethically bound to give the appropriate attribution. To not do so, makes all one's work suspect, labels one as a plagiarist, and therefore not to be trusted. You think I'm carrying this too far? I don't think so. Research on the internet nowadays is pretty easy.

These are my final thoughts I think ;}}}
 

ibclare

Queen Bee
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Oh god, I thought you may all get a kick out of this one. I downloaded a pic I liked and went to the site for artist rules - http://isostock.deviantart.com/ - and here they are:

wave.gif HI THERE wave.gif

NO MORE RULES. FREE STOCKS!

I stopped taking pictures. I'm fed up with this whole photography shit.
Anyways: all my images are crap and I really don't care about what's happening to them.

This means: do whatever you want with my images. I really don't mind.

Commercial works are fine, selling prints is fine, school projects are fine, posting on facebook, myspace, twitter, websites, blablabla...

Everything's just fine as long as you stay creative...

If you credit me, that's way cool and I really do appreciate but as I said: you don't have to

!! Even if the rules on the deviation differ from the rules here, the rules written in the journal (here) are the only ones that apply !!

... Please don't send me any notes. I really don't have the time to answer them. Sorry about that ...

hug.gif Thanks a lot for all your support and using my stocks! Very appreciated hug.gif

!!! Have fun, be creative, enjoy life... it rocks !!!

biggrin.gif headbang.gif biggrin.gif

heart.gif
 

ComedyLover

Well-Known Member
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this is so complicated :'(
all images i manipulate have been on my laptop for ages so tracking them now will be real bother

one more thing 70% of the anime i google has many sizes in many forums n sites so finding who really designed that particular image is really really hard n sorta impossible

can i say the main render is not by me n the credit goes to WHOEVER made it n be on the safe side or things doesnt work this way ??
 

ibclare

Queen Bee
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Yes, well we almost all have that problem. When I started using images and altering them, there was this sentiment/idea/whatever going around that if you altered an image by 25% or more, it was OK not to credit or you weren't infringing, blah blah blah. That is not the accepted thinking anymore, there has been way to much intellectual theft of images and blatant stealing and saying it's one's own. I would just suggest that you start fresh. There are more than enough sites where you can get free downloads and all you have to do is save them with the original name, then copy it from the thumbnail and post. You don't even have to write all that stuff down. Some artists want you to leave them a link when you're using their work, but not always the case.

Anyway, most of us look for fresh images, sometimes just because it inspires new ideas and we've already used th eold stuff. You have a new laptop so you have tons of space for storage of files and some can be BIG. Don't be shy; post your work. We love fresh viewpoints. Some members on the site make their own. Just search for anime. I use deviantart.com as you can see from my credits. As I told someone yesterday (lazy: haven't done it yet) I am going to start a sticky thread in the Showroom Forum for people to post their favorite image source websites. Dig in!
 

IamSam

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this is so complicated :'(
No, it's actually very simple.

ComedyLover said:
one more thing 70% of the anime i google has many sizes in many forums n sites so finding who really designed that particular image is really really hard n sorta impossible
Any Anime, no matter the size shape or form, that has been altered, reproduced, copied, or in anyway rendered by anyone else without consent or permission, other than the original artist, can not be used by you anyway.

You still must have consent from the original artist (the artist who originally drew the anime) and not someone who unlawfully used the original artists imagery in their creations. Copying them just because they don't have permission, will not make you legal. Since they, more than likely, did not have permission either, you do not need permission to copy their work. But if you do copy their work, and it contains anime, then your just as in violation as they are! DON'T COPY! DRAW YOUR OWN ANIME TO BE ON THE SAFE SIDE!

ComedyLover said:
can i say the main render is not by me n the credit goes to WHOEVER made it n be on the safe side or things doesnt work this way ??
If the render contains Anime, you should have permission from the original artist. If you don't, you should NOT use it. Anime, is 1000% recognizable and traceable to a source.
 

ibclare

Queen Bee
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In different words CL, IamSam is telling you the same thing I did. Just because we may want to use another's image, doesn't make it OK to do so. Anyone with ethics on this site will tell you the same thing.

There are some anime artists here, though not a lot who have posted; I haven't seen them recently. Search anime, find an artist, and send a PM. It can't be that hard if you have drawing ability and at least one of the guys produced very nice work and claims he can't draw! Well, he's learning. You can learn all sorts of things here that are directly applicable to your art. Colorization comes up a lot. Adding makeup to a model's face. Putting shadows on subjects in a meaningful way. What's good is that these topics are repeating. Almost once a week (or more) you'll see them. And again, you can search.

But there are sites which have anime and they give permission to use as long as you follow their rules. I'm sorry you have a boatload of anime you want to use without hunting up more. I had an image that I found on the internet early in my PSG play and dug it out months later. Hoogle told me it was copyrighted. I swear it wasn't when I found it, but I didn't even give credit to the photographer. So I took it down. I had a supervisor once who used to say, "Too bad; so sad." I used to feel insulted, but now it's just funny. No insult intended to you.
 

ComedyLover

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90% of my photos from this site http://www.zerochan.net/

they have absolutely no rules against posting their work in other places n they got no guide lines to that kinda stuff (not that am aware off)

i dont know if is it me the one cant understand what u r saying or is it u the ones rnt understanding me any way what u r saying may seem easy in ur opinion but it to me it isnt easy

if there is no way out i will not post any thing n stay on the safe side
 

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