Copyrights 101 We strive to be copyright compliant. This page is just an informative page to hopefully help you understand the how and why of copyrights and copyright procedures. These are various tips and information that I, BamaVamp,  have gotten over the years being involved with PSP Groups. Alot of people post an image and will ask 'Is this copyrighted?' The answer is very simple...Yes. Everything in tangible form is copyrighted. Every image, product, story, poem, song..everything is copyrighted. The question is to whom does the Copyright belong? Just because you grab an image off the internet does not make it fair play for useage. All images have a copyright owner..so how do you find the owner? Try a google search with very specific terms. You can join a copyright group like Copyright Corner which has tons of valuable resources for finding copyright information. If its a psp tube, look at the file name--sometimes the file name may hold clues to whom the copyright owner is. ~Can I use the image once I find the copyright owner?~ When you have found the copyright owner, the next thing is whether or not that artist will allow you to use it. If you want to find out for yourself, do a web search for the artist to see if they have a home page. In most cases artists will have their own home pages and you can find something called a TOU (terms of use) or FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions). This is where they will outline whether or not they allow their graphics for certain uses. Always check the artists TOU before emailing them. If they give permission on site, there is no need to email them unless they state otherwise. If you cannot find any information on their site, then look for Contact link and send them an email. Be very specific when asking for permission--tell them what your intended use is--if you wanna use it in a sig tag--if you want to make tubes--if you want to use it in a web page layout--do they allow animations, etc. Be sure to ask them to outline their terms of use for you so you will know what you can and cannot do with the images. The more specific you are the more likely you are to get a clear response. NEVER share your email correspondance to an artist with another person or another group. ALWAYS keep the emails from these artists, should you ever be asked about it. You should never blantantly post a permission email as there are plenty of wicked people out there who will steal them and claim them as their own. ~What about tubes I receive through groups?~ Most tubes that come through yahoo or msn groups will include more than one layer. In most cases one layer will be the tube, one layer will be the tubers watermark, and hopefully the other layer will be copyright information. If no copyright information is present, then you must find out who the copyright belongs to before you can use the image. Note that a tubers watermark is NOT copyright recognition. Tubers and Misters of images do not hold any kind of copyrights over the images. They should not be claiming copyrights of any kind and you do not have to credit them for tubing or misting artwork. The only copyright information that you should be using is the actual artist. For example, ©Cliff Bonamie bonamiestudios.com. That is proper copyright recognition. 'Tubed By BamaVamp' or 'Misted by BamaVamp' is not copyright recognition. Why can't we use Celebrities? MSN terms of use states that you must have permission for any images that you use inside MSN Groups. Unless you were to contact Ben Affleck personally and ask him for permission to use one of his pictures you snagged off his web site then you can not use it. With celebrities such as movie stars, tv stars, musical artists, models, even political figures---you would have to have permission of both the photographer of the image and the celebrity. The only time you are permitted to use a celebrity in our sites is when you have permission from an artist who has drawn or photographed a celebrity. An example of this is Enion Reese or Norma Peters, who does celebrity drawings. ~What about consumer products?~ You may not use any kind of consumer product under any circumstance. In movies, when the production company wants to use a Coca Cola can in a scene--the production company must get permission from Coca Cola and then pay a royalty to use that Coke can--as both Coca Cola and the design of the can are copyrighted to the Coca Cola company. The same would apply if you wanted to use a Revlon Lipstick tube, a bottle of Jack Daniels, a Harley Davidson Motorcycle or any consumer product. ~What About Royalty Free Photographs?~ There are many 'royalty free' photo sites on the internet. Getty Images, Stock Exchange and many others offer royalty free images for you to use for your tagging purposes. Keep in mind that royalty free does not mean copyright free. You must still give copyright recognition either to the stock photo site or to the photographer as required by the web site. ~How do I credit my tags correctly?~ Under no circumstance are you to put the copyright symbol by your name unless you made the image from scratch yourself. If you follow a selection tutorial and make your own tube, you would put your own copyright mark, for example ©BamaVamp. If you are making a tag and using another artists artwork--the artist who made the image you are using is the ONLY one who gets copyright credit. You may add your taggers watermark 'Tagged by Bama', 'Bama Tags', etc--but never add the copyright mark by your name unless you made it by yourself. Always use the artists first and last name and the link to their website unless they state that you do not have to add their link. A single last name is not acceptable as there maybe 400 different Wong artists--how are people to know that you are talking about Popeye Wong unless you tell everyone in your tag? An example of proper copyright credit would be ©Cliff Bonamie www.bonamiestudios.com  Copyrights must ALWAYS be legible, readable and viewable by the human eye. All artists require that you give them copyright recognition. If they cannot see that you are giving them permission correctly, they will not allow you to use their images. Use a font that is easy to read--script fonts are nice and fancy but when it comes to crediting an artist you want to do your best to make sure its right 100% of the time. To make the copyright symbol, hold down the ALT key and on your number pad type the numbers 0169 while holding the ALT key. If you are using Licensed artwork, you must own a license and with your purchased license the company will tell you how to credit your images appropriately. ~What Is Licensed Artwork?~ Licensed artwork is any artwork which an artist has signed with a licensing agency. The licensing agencies currently include CILM, GILD, AMI, Barbara Jensen & Stickerchick. Some of the most reknowned artists in the PSP Community are licensed artists. If an artist is licensed, then you must purchase your own license to use them. A license is the 'rights' to use certain images that you have purchased. Each licensing organization will give you a licensing # that you will use on every tag you make from their licensed artists. Licensing agencies are very specific on their Terms of Use and each has a slightly different Terms of Use, so when you purchase a license review the TOU carefully to prevent your license from being revoked. When you purchase a license, you own the rights to use those images for life--however note that you are only allowed to use the images that you have paid for. As a member of our groups you are required to follow the Copyright Rules--not only to keep yourself safe, but to keep our group safe from being shut down. Remember that Copyrights are NOT the sole responsiblity of Group Management. We are here to inform, help, and assist in any and all ways possible, but making smart copyright choices are your own.   Web Page, Tiles and Tips ©BamaVamp