Should I Copyright My Work?

Jake Parker · 9 Mar 2021, 21:01

Why does my work look amateurish? How do I make sure my art prints properly? And should I copyright my work in case it gets stolen? This week, Jake Parker, Lee White, and Will Terry discuss these questions and provide their answers and experiences.

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10 Mar 2021, 10:29

not so sure about some takes, especially with what happened during the alphonso thing.
this podcast literally gave him the thumbs up.. that he did the right thing and did it the right way.

Lee White · 10 Mar 2021, 13:01

@Molambo I'm not totally sure what you are saying in your comment. Can you clarify?

mag · 10 Mar 2021, 13:21

@Lee-White @Molambo maybe I got it wrong, but I think they said if someone thinks his copyright might be violated, he should reach out to the person who (allegedly) wronged him, and if that person doesn’t want to deal with that, go to the lawyers and/or make it public. Alfonso didn’t do that (as far as I know). They also were talking about how you actually cannot copyright ideas. So as far as @Jake-Parker did not used Alfonso’s exact words, Texts and images, there’s actually no copyright infringement at all (imho). (Leaving out the fact that the ideas in both of these books were not original, since those techniques have been used and taught long before these shenanigans... so I really don’t get all the buzz and hate around this case, I don’t see any case to buzz about, but - oh well, what can you do.)

10 Mar 2021, 14:13

@Lee-White
A lot of people, me included, didnt liked that he created the video to call him out based on what he believes and indirectly send out his drones which damaged jake parkers rep instead to go to a lawyer.

based on your takes on that, its not really worth it to do so since the chance to actually get something out of it is small and it costs a lot of money to do so. with that in mind the callout he did, which i think was defamatory, was a legit thing to do... especially since it was listed up as some things you can do.

even when you reach out to someone, you never know if you got to the right person or if they need more time then you think before they come back at you with a reply so calling someone publicy out for something you believe is right is a very dangerous thing these days with all the mob mentality going on on social media platforms.

@mag i dont agree with him either and i dont see him having a legit case but he believes it. so my take would be...then go to court and see if you win instead to try to use social media and the mob to judge over him. but...see my reply to lee.

mag · 10 Mar 2021, 15:06

@Molambo that’s an interesting thought - that he him self believes in being in the right... (and of course he does, otherwise he wouldn’t do what he did). I agree with what you said. and the thing is, I’m not a confrontational type of person and I believe in positive approach. so maybe what Alfonso did triggers me a bit more then it should. It would be so awesome for him to go and talk it out with Jake Parker privately. Even more so - Jake is known for being a reasonable and honourable person. Who knows how things might be if he tried a different approach back then...

MarksByMallory · 10 Mar 2021, 16:10

Thanks for picking my question @Jake-Parker! I appreciate you three taking the time to answer it.

What I learned is basically there's no avoiding a lot of trial and error.

Asyas_illos · 10 Mar 2021, 17:43

I can’t seem to find this episode the link says it can’t find it. And I’m not seeing it on the YouTube channel?the most recent one I see is from feb 23.

mag · 10 Mar 2021, 18:07

@Asyas_illos https://www.svslearn.com/3pointperspectiveblog/3pp76
does this one work?

Lee White · 10 Mar 2021, 18:43

I wanted to clarify something in the podcast. I want to be SURE you guys don't think we were saying that copyright is pointless. Copyright is AWESOME and can help you out when images are stolen on Facebook and amazon, etc. I have successfully had images removed from both of those when people were using my images without permission.

The point I was making in the podcast was addressing the "you should sue" statement I hear so much. I was just saying that is easier said than done. But don't think that we don't value copyright because we do! : )

Asyas_illos · 10 Mar 2021, 18:24

@mag yes!! Thank you!

davidhohn · 10 Mar 2021, 19:35

@Lee-White Nice save! But I would like to discuss this more.

So I was listening to this episode this morning and was a little disturbed by what I was hearing. Maybe "confused" is a better word, since I know Will, Jake and Lee recognize the inherent value of copyright protection. But as I listened I found myself wondering:

"Hang on -- are they saying that there's no point to copyright protection?"

I've listened to this section twice (you know, before I start randomly posting my criticism on public forums) and if I were new to illustration I would likely come away pondering:

"If I can't really ever win a copyright suit ...
AND I am required to register my work before I can file a copyright suit...
AND the automatic copyright protection doesn't have any real teeth unless I register my copyright . . .
Then what's the point of US Copyright Law (Title 17)?

Reading @Lee-White post above I realize now that the emphasis in the podcast discussion is on the: "Take someone to court and try to get monetary damages out of them" part of "suing" an infringer.

But if you change the word "sue" to "take legal action" then there are other tools that copyright protection (and the associated registration with the copyright office) provides to illustrators.

@Lee-White @Jake-Parker @Will-Terry and anyone else who has experience with copyright protection -- can you offer some examples of ways in which copyright has benefitted your career? @Lee-White I recognize you mentioned stolen images on FB and Amazon. Can you chat a bit more about that? What aspects of copyright did you utilize?

Lee White · 10 Mar 2021, 23:43

@davidhohn i just reported the sites/images that were stolen and had to show my site where the original images were. Once those were confirmed they removed the stolen content.

davidhohn · 11 Mar 2021, 00:20

@Lee-White Thanks for additional info!

For those new to copyright -- so you were leveraging the automatic protection (in this case presumption of ownership once the work is in a "fixed and tangible form") built into copyright law. With no need to register the images with the copyright office?

Juleesa · 11 Mar 2021, 18:11

Hello, Lee mentioned an 11x17 scanner for around $250. Anyone have any recommendations? I’ve been looking for a scanner this size for a while now. Thank you!

davidhohn · 11 Mar 2021, 18:45

@Juleesa I heard that too -- @Lee-White where you seeing this kind of thing? I've always seen scanners that big for about $1K and it's typically used. New at Epson seems to be around $3K.( But I never put it past Lee to find crazy deals!)

braden H · 11 Mar 2021, 18:49

@davidhohn I got an 11x17 printer scanner combo for 200 from Staples years ago. Can't seem to find anything similar now, though! Maybe there wasn't much demand from the average consumer.

davidhohn · 11 Mar 2021, 19:42

@Braden-Hallett Wow, that would be a pretty big device! But an insane deal!

Melissa_Bailey · 11 Mar 2021, 20:59

@davidhohn a few years ago I purchased an Epson WF-7610 large format scanner from Amazon for $150 (which is about the MSRP). A few months ago, it stopped printing (hey, it was known to be glitchy, but I work traditionally, needed a large format scanner, took a gamble, and got about 4 years out of it). So I went looking for a new scanner ... well, the pandemic happened! With so many people scrambling to set up home offices, printers and scanners are at a premium and prices have skyrocketed.

Epson is no longer manufacturing that all-in-one printer, it's completely sold out on the Epson site, and any new models of the WF-7610 are selling for $600. On eBay, I found some used working models selling for $200-$400. Long story short, the one I bought was purported to work perfectly but doesn't. It looks like I'll be searching for a new printer and scanner soon.

In my initial research, it looks like I'll need to spend around $180 for a decent large format printer and $250 for a 9x12-inch scanner with good reviews (large format images will need to be scanned and stitched together in Photoshop). This time around, I'm going to purchase separately to save money. According to my research, a large format scanner with good reviews will cost at least $1000, not something I can afford right now.

Hope this info helps someone who might be in a similar boat.

MarksByMallory · 11 Mar 2021, 22:22

Thanks @Braden-Hallett and @davidhohn! I was just looking for one, as @Lee-White suggested, and I can't find one for under $500. The nice ones seem to be about $1000-$3000...

I would also LOVE it if someone could direct us to a decent 11x17" scanner that's within a starving-artist budget! (Or at least something that can work for a while, until we can afford to upgrade?) Thanks!