Quote: Pablo Picasso
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Tip: Copyright Protection
- It must be original. The artwork must be original, not copied from anything else.
- It must be creative. The artwork must show at least a minimum amount of creativity.
- It must be fixed in a tangible medium. The artwork must be fixed in one of these tangible mediums—in its digital state as 1s and 0s; paintings and drawings; original music; your original artworks scanned into your computer; artwork you have created using bit-mapped or vector drawing, painting, or photo-manipulation programs or any combination of these digital media; buttons and graphics, cartoons, illustrations, and original writing that you have created for your Web site and that reside on your Web site.
First off, the moment you create ANYTHING visual—paintings, drawings, photographs, sculptures, etc—the only person who is allowed to copy that art is you. If you decide to sell prints of one of your paintings, you can. If anyone else does, without your written permission, you have the right to take them to court and sue for damages.
In fact, copyright laws are so strong that your family or legal heirs will still own the copyright to your artwork until 50 years after your death.
Artists that display their work online or allow their art to be published in books or magazines often put a copyright symbol (along with their name and the year the artwork was created) next to the reproduced image. This practice isn’t actually necessary—you still own the copyright, even without using the symbol—but at least this will remind people not to copy your work.
Additionally, if you find out that someone HAS “infringed” on your copyright, and you can prove that the copyright symbol was next to the image of your artwork that they copied, you’ll have a very strong case against them if the issue ever goes to court—which is exactly why so many artists choose to put up that copyright notice.
You should also be aware that even after selling an original work of art to a collector, you still hold the copyright to it. The buyer cannot make prints or sell copies of your art unless you’ve given them that express permission in writing.
Now, even though you own the copyright to your art immediately after creating it, there are still ways to officially register your copyright claim with the US government and most other governments (if you live outside the US) as well.
Some of the reasons to officially register your artwork are:
- Registration creates a public record of your copyright (more proof in court)
- Registration is the first step required before you can sue someone for infringement
- Registration often increases the amount you can sue for
- You’ve created something especially valuable (ie, the next Mickey Mouse).
- You plan on selling the copyright of your art to someone else
In the US you can register your copyright with the US Library of Congress Copyright Office by filling out an application and paying a fee for each piece or for a group of pieces. For further information about the application form and costs, make sure to visit www.copyright.gov/register/visual.
Use of copyrighted work for:
- Teaching, scholarship or research
- Criticism or comment on a copyrighted work
- New reporting
When you are hired and paid by a company to create work for them, the copyright ownership belongs to them and not the artist creating the work.
Works created after Oct 31, 1988 don't need to have the (C) symbol on them to be covered by the copyright law. However, it is a good idea to remind people that you are covered and to remember that other peoples work is also covered. Read more...
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Holiday Snow Scene in Watercolor
This workshop will consist of a one hour demonstration of a holiday snow scene which will be given as a door prize, followed by two additional hours for the students to paint the same scene, or finish an existing painting with instructor help.
Date: Saturday, December 5th
Time: 9:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Location: Syracuse Community Center, Arts and Crafts Room
Cost: Free
Instructor: Lester Lee
Supply List:
- Students must provide their own watercolor materials, including paper
Tip: Free Online Art Courses and Tutorials
Here is a list of educational resources compiled by Karen Schweitzer, who writes about online colleges. All of these sites provide some kind of free art instruction.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
September Business Meeting Minutes
Attendance: Tracie, Kathy, Jeanine, Curt, Stephanie
- Becky Uddy has stepped down as treasurer. The SGVA does not have a need for a treasurer at this time but we would like to thank Becky for all that she has done with this group!
- Tracy is diligently fighting for the funds we have been promised by the city. The whole arts council was approved for a $6700 budget in July of 2008. In January 2009 the city released $3000, and sadly the SGVA did not receive any of this money. Because of the frugality of the SGVA we do have money in our existing budget to fund monthly classes through March 2010. We need the support of every member more than ever to show the city that we will do great things with the allotted city funds.
- We would love ideas from the members on ways to self fund our group. Two of the ideas that were brought up at the meeting are Christmas cards and asking for donations.
- We presented the idea of printing Christmas cards last year with not much luck. We would like to have every member donate the rights to a piece of artwork so we can print cards and sell them. Or ask the class instructors to donate the rights to the artwork for that class and use those.
- It was also discussed that we ask for donations from the free class participants. This is optional and not expected. We are just looking for ways to stretch our existing budget.
- We would love feedback on both of these suggestions!
- In our October and November Thursday night meetings will be making ornaments for the Christmas tree we will be donating to the Syracuse Tree Festival. These trees are on display in the Syracuse Museum and then donated to needy families in the area. Because we are city funded, we feel like we should give back to our city! We are asking everyone to try to donate to the cause. The color scheme is Red, Silver, and gold. If you have lights, tinsel, ornaments, anything.....Please join us October 15th, and November 19th to get this tree ready!
Thank you and please let us know of any questions and concerns.
Stephanie
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Quote: Edward Hopper
"Painting will have to deal more fully and less obliquely with life and nature's phenomena before it can again be great."
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Quote: Edgar Degas
"A painting requires a little mystery, some vagueness, some fantasy. When you always make your meaning perfectly plain you end up boring people."
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