Mark Ellis's Scavenger Hunt

How to protect your copyrighted visual art material

1. You can register your work for an official copyright

2. Fill out required forms located at :http://www.copyright.gov

3. Send in your package to:

Library of Congress
Copyright Office
101 Independence Avenue, S.E.
Washington, D.C. 20559-6000

4. Send in $45.00 with the packet

To protect your copyright further:

1. If you have not gone through the top 4 steps, please remember that once you sign the art and affix it to anything, it is technically copyrighted.

2. If the work is graphic, you can sign the work and affix a copyright symbol (©) to the work. You can still claim the piece as copyrighted.

Web sites to help you protect your work:

1. The U.S. Copyright Office

2. Stanford University Libraries-Copyright and Fair Use

3. Creative Commons License Descriptions

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The Copyright Visual Arts Police Blotter

Helping You Cover Your Assets! (Creative Assets That Is!)

The Problem

When you are a student or a designer of any sort, you realize very quickly that these days it is very hard to maintain control of your creative works. Nothing is more discouraging than creating a great piece of art or a really cool graphic and then seeing it all over the Internet or in a publication somewhere.

What Does The Law Say?

Technically, the copyright laws state that a piece of art exists the moment it is affixed to any medium. In other words, once you create a piece of art or graphics and sign it, the piece of artwork is technically copyrighted. However, if you are commissioned to do the artwork or work for somebody then the material is copyrighted to your employer.

What If Someone Wants To Use My Work?

If someone wants to use your work they will have to get your permission to do so. At that point, you can decide if you want them to pay you or you can give them permission to use your work. If they pay you, you will have to let them sign a written (the best method) or a verbal agreement as to the restrictions of their use and how long they can use the art for.

Scavenger Hunt

In order to help you on your scavenger hunt, here is a simple worksheet for you to use as you find the answers to this scavenger hunt.

To better understand copyright laws as they apply to visual arts, I have prepared a list of questions from different sites. This will be a scavenger hunt for the answers. Go to the selected sites and try to find the answers. When you are finished, check out your answers!

The answers to these questions can be found at the U.S. Copyright Website http://www.copyright.gov

1. What kind of copyright license do you need to protect your artwork on the international market? Click Here for Answer

2. Is registration with the U.S. Copyright Office necessary for copyright protection? Click Here for Answer

3. Are sculptures considered as works of art that can be copyrighted? Click Here for Answer

4. If your employer asks you to write a newsletter for the company that you work for do you get to keep the rights to the newsletter?

5. Can someone else, such as an agent, secure a copyright for your art? Click Here for Answer

1. Under what conditions can you use portions of someone's copyrighted material ? Click Here for Answer

3. As a general rule, most works of art enter the public domain because of what ? Click Here for Answer

4. If you saw this notice: Free Graphics and Clip Art on my site! Just copy and paste onto your site ! Is this legal to do so ? Click Here for Answer

5. You have an idea for a great piece of artwork which you talk about extensively on the Internet about. Can you merely copyright the idea ? Click Here for Answer