With all that is going on in the tagging community today many of us are struggling with what we should or should not do regarding copyright information. We hope this page will help answer some of your questions and also explain why we try to adhere to artist's requests. But to start off you should be aware that whenever you place your watermark on a tag, you should never use the © symbol unless you drew the actual image or took the photo you used in your tag. The © symbol belongs solely to the artist who painted, drew, photographed the image/tube you are using.

First, a little background about artists. You know what it takes to create a tag. All the time and imagination used to come up with the one special tag you are proud to share with everyone. You are sure to place your own watermark on the tag because you do not want anyone taking it and claiming it as their own. If you discover someone did that you would be very upset. Well the same thing applies to all the artists out there. They spend more time creating one piece of art then we taggers do creating a tag. Each of their creations come directly from their own imagination and not from a tutorial. Therefore they certainly do deserve recognition for without them we would not have much to create tags with.

We taggers have different types of artists available to us. First are the ones who prefer to sell their work as tubes through various agencies or directly from their own website. Those of us who purchase artist tubes must follow the rules established by the representing agency or the personal artist. These rules include applying a © symbol before the artist's name, the url to their website, and a special license number assigned with the first purchase. The agencies also require their initials be included as part of the license number.

We also have very generous artists. They are the ones who allow us to use their artwork free of charge. All they ask is the same consideration we ask when we create our tags. We need to apply the © symbol before their name and add the url to their website or webpage where they display their work. Some of these artists have special Terms of Use restricting what can be done with their art. Some have certain artwork they allow us to tube and other art that that is not allowed. It is important to read the artist's Terms of Use before tubing anything and even a good practice to read it before using any tubes received. The basic request by most artists is not to alter their art in such a way that it will change the appearance and not to colorize any part of their work. You will find each artist's Terms of Use on their webpage.

Then we have the restricted artists. They do not allow any use of their work. They are the ones who create solely for commercial purposes. Unfortunately you will find the majority of these artists works being highly cirulated as tubes through share groups. There will be no indication of who the artist is but because they are well known their work is easy to recognize. Some of these artists are Debbie Mumm, Mary Englebreight, Ruth Morehead, and others. They have commercial contracts with manufacturers of various items such as dishes, jewelry, gift items, keepsakes, and greeting cards. These are the ones we call No No Artists and should avoid using any of their artwork.

That about sums up the whys and basic information about copyrights. Of course it is up to the user whether or not her or she wants to abide and follow common courtesy by giving the artist recognition. The more who refuse to do so will eventually ruin it for the rest of us. One day all artists might recinder their generous free use terms and sign up with the agencies. Some might even pull all their artwork off the net. Should things come to that, what will the tagging community do? We will not have any new free tubes to use. We will be given warnings of legal actions if we do not abide by their decisions. In other words we will have nothing left to create tags with.

The following are some Q&A's we've come up with to help you along your way of learning more about copyrights. We will add to this list as more questions arise. You may also refer to our Yahoo Groups file section where we have folders with lists of Artists for you to use.

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Q. What is a Pay To Use Tube?
   A. A Pay To Use Tube (PTU) is one that is purchased from a licensing agency or directly from an artist.

Q. What is a Free To Use Tube?
   A. A Free To Use Tube (FTU) is one that is given freely by an artist for general use according to the artist's Terms of Use.

Q. What does Terms Of Use mean?
   A. Terms of Use (TOU) is what either the licensing agencies or artists write up with regard to how to use their tubes. The Do's and Don't's.

Q. Do all artists use the same TOU?
   A. No. Each individual (FTU) artist has his or her own TOU. Each licensing agency has their own.

Q. What does "for personal use" mean?
   A. This means the image/tube cannot be used for any commercial or business websites, business cards, etc.
        Personal use is for an individual who is not obtaining any financial benefits from the use of the artist's work.

Q. What does "commercial art" mean?
   A. Commercial Art is that work created solely for financial gain. Artist's have special contracts with various manufacturing companies.

Q. When I buy a tube, do I then own it?
   A. Not exactly. What you are purchasing is the right to use the image/tube. Only the artist owns it.

Q. Can we share PTU tubes?
   A. No. Each PTU tube/image is sold to an individual and given a specific license number.
       That license is proof of purchase and is assigned only to the person who made the purchase.

Q. Can we share FTU tubes?
   A. Yes. All Free To Use tubes can be shared as long as the artist's copyright name and url is also supplied.

Q. What does it mean when an artist allows use of work to create tags/stats/websites but does not allow any work to be tubed?
   A. This means you must use the entire image in your graphic creation. You cannot cut it or alter it. You may add a frame and some allow you to add sparkles.

Q. Can I place a copyright symbol with my watermark when using artist work?
   A. You should never use the © symbol before your name unless you drew or photographed the actual image you are using.
       You may place your name e.g. Susie's Tag, or Tagged by Susie but not © symbol unless you are the artist of the image used.

Q. Can I use more than one artist's tube on a single tag?
   A. Most artists and licensing agencies do not allow this. You should read all Terms of Use to be sure.
       You may use any number of ONE artist's tubes but not mix and match different artists.
       A few artists may allow this but even if one does make sure the other one does also. If one says No, then you cannot mix them.

Q. If an artist states No Tubing allowed, does that include misting?
   A. Yes, as misting is a form of tubing.

Q. How do I create the © symbol?
   A. Most basic fonts work when you use your numerical pad on the side of your keyboard.
       Hold down the Alt key and type in the numbers 0169.
       Then release the Alt key and the symbol will appear.

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~All Rights Reserved - April 2008~