[Woodcarver] COPYRIGHT rules

[Tom Clarke]

pinocchiocarver at aol.com wrote:

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> Hello All, 

>           I lost the letters about copyright from Ivan Whillock and 

> Joe Dillet. My family are asking lots of questions about copyright and 

> carving. So I could print them to read them self to understand about 

> co          Feel free to browse my carving. 

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> Mike G.

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This is my general understanding about copyrights.

The originator owns all rights to the material. He/she can choose to 
give away or sell some, none, or all of those rights.   By buying the 
book or magazine, you purchase certain rights as expressed in the 
copyright notice. The best way to find out what you have purchased is to 
look at the copyright notice.  Most often the authors want to protect 
reproduction of the pattern, because that is what they are selling.  
Often they grant the carver the right to make and sell carvings based on 
the patterns, but not to reproduce or sell the patterns.  There are a 
few who present the pattern "for instructional purposes only" and 
restrict even the selling of carvings made from the patterns. They have 
that right.   Remember, by buying the book you are not automatically 
buying all rights, or even necessarily the commercial rights to the 
material.  Some authors offer the patterns with the assumption that they 
will be used strictly by amateurs and not by people who are in carving 
for commercial purposes.

Enforcement is up to the holder of the copyright.  People with clout, 
Disney, for example, have much more success in protecting their products 
from unauthorized reproduction than others.  The average carver has no 
such power.  A lot of unauthorized copying takes place because there is 
a misunderstanding of the rights or an inability--or reluctance--of the 
holder of the copyright to enforce  them.

Since most of the authors are ordinary folks like you and me, some don't 
care whether you sell carvings from their patterns or not.  Some care 
but are "too nice" to do anything about it.

Chances are, however, the author is reachable.  I'd bet most would 
appreciate being asked for permission if there is a doubt.


Ivan Whillock Studio
122 NE 1st Avenue
Faribault, MN  55021
***********************************************************
Hi Cynda,

"Ok, new question: How does one get a copywrite? on carvings, drawings,
patterns, etc???"

There are two things of copyright you are probably confusing.

You *Have* a copyright the moment you create whatever it is. Boom! Done 
deal!

What you are more likely asking is how to register a copyright.

That is done through the Library of Congress, LOC.gov.

For my books, I am required to send two copies plus the $60 fee (for 
each title) and then maybe 6 or 12 weeks later, I get a very official 
form, much like a propety deed, stating my registered ownership fo the 
copyright to teh work.

The process itself is easy and clear, the forms are there on the LOC 
page, just print and fill out and submit.


:)


Jud
***********************************************************
Hi Cynda,

"That I knew, the registered one, but what about the copywrights I see 
on web sites, pictures, etc.  There is only one of each carving, etc.  I 
see the copywrite sign, c within a circle, on these things. Does that 
had any weight?  Does marking each article, piece of art, etc have any 
legal substance?"

Yes and no. As I said, it is copyright the moment you create it. 
Anything beyond that is a matter of what you have to prove that 
copyright if the need ever arose. Registering it with the LOC is one 
way, and for printed material, the standard. For works of art, the 
statement is soemitmes added to reproductions of it or displays of it, 
such as an image on a web page, mainly to make clear that takign a photo 
of it is prohibited. For instance, on one of my woodcarving albums, 
though clear that I own the copyrights to anything I have created and 
the images of them that I created, I have not noted anything and don't 
care if anyone wants to download copies of those images, with one 
exception: the piece I commissioned by Tange, to which I also own the 
copyright, I do state in the caption my claim and specifically prohibit 
copying or reprocution of that image without prior written permission of 
the copyright owner, ie, me.

So the legal fact of copyright exists upon creation. Marking the piece 
is a statement that you are prepared to enforce your rights under that 
legal protection.


:)


Jud
***********************************************************
Hi Cynda,

Any copyright has weight but you need to go through the expense of 
enforcing
it by filing a civil action. The court decides, based on the evidence, if
your copyright has been violated. To get anything from civil actions you
need to prove lose of income directly or through reputation.

There have been cases where I sold my copyright for more than the original
artwork like a pattern for the Last Supper. The copyright was sold to a
different individual than the original work. On some commissions, where
copyable work is involved, I quote two prices, one for the original work 
and
one price for the copyright. Most of my work the copyright stays with me
after I sell the work. Copyright can be another source of income.

Another reason for copyrights is to maintain the rights to produce it. I 
had
a product line that I added new designs every year. One company was copying
them as painting and not carvings. I decided not to enforce my copyright
because, even though they were copying my ideas, their product was 
different
enough to not negatively effect my income. Over the years that company
forgot where they got the patterns and filed for there own copyright. Than
they tried to enforce they're copyright and told me to stop producing them.
Fortunately I was able to show them that my copyright per-dated theirs. 
If I
had not copyrighted them it would have been more difficult for me to prove
that I had the original design and I could have lost that whole product
line.

The link for the copyright forms is http://www.loc.gov/copyright/forms/

True story about a woodcarver friend of mine in Milwaukee. A beer company
commissioned him to design a belt buckle depicting the end of a barrel with
their logo. Through negotiation it was decided that the woodcarver would
maintain rights to the copyright and only supply the beer company with 200
cast belt buckles. A year or so later a foundry took a buckle and copied it
and started selling them. The woodcarver went to his attorney to enforce 
his
copyright. The attorney said it wasn't worth the effort. However about two
years after that the attorney called the woodcarver and said now it was
worth it because they could prove the foundry had produced thousands and 
the
original pattern degraded so they could prove lose of reputation by the 
poor
quality. His settlement was substantial enough to build him a new building
and make his life comfortable.

Find a good attorney to help you understand copyright law. There have been
significant changes to copyright law in the last few years. Check with your
local art league or university for attorneys who donate their time to
helping the arts. These are the attorneys that can help you because they
deal with it more often and are more willing to donate all or a portion of
their time.


Joe Dillett
The Carving Shop
645 E. LaSalle St. Suite 3
Somonauk, IL. 60552
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