I have a question for designers... Today when I see in M3 collab kit picture I know (OK, not exactly this picture, but I know the style of this artist from my childhood - and also the text advertising pedicure on the stamp is in Czech language) I wonder how copyright is handled in each country. Because digiscrap designers have TOUs to protect their work, but what I´m really curious about is difference in approach to copyright in each country... When using some pictures/stamps/clippings etc., also extracted subjects which someone designed in real or text from newspaper etc. - are you following just conditions valid for your country or are you trying to find how the origin country approach copyright?
that's an interesting observation and question - i have no idea what the answer is but i love that you could read some of the text in Czech!
@ad77 An answer from Paula is that "The vintage images that I use I scanned from my collection of memorabilia and they are so old that they are public domain."
I don´t know whose contribution the stamp with a cheerful man was, I just see it on preview, but I think the author of the illustration was Miloš Noll (my oppinion, not saying I´m right), who died in 1998 (so it wouldn´t be 70 years yet). Anyway - that picture made me to ask, but I´m interested in it general longer. If designers are trying to find resources and authors of the illustrations etc., to verify their biographic data and conditions valid in the country of origin, or just think - that looks quite old, so it must be OK (or - digiscrapbook industry is so small, so there is no need to deal with). I understand that something is absolutely clear and "safe" - using pictures from very old herbariums, maps etc. But the production of the 20th century can be problematic - typically when the author started to create very young and then lived a long life...
Hi Lucie! I agree with you, it can be, and is often problematic using illustrations. I know I speak for a very large group of designers here when I assure you that a lot of time goes into sourcing pieces that are used in kits that are not drawn from our own hand. Copyright is a serious matter, and a credible designer does absolutely not use items with the mindset that it is old so it must be okay, or hoping that nobody will notice because we are a small industry. Personally I only use resources from a very few limited and safe places where it's categorically clear that the piece is in the public domain and free of any copyright. Thank you for your love of Mixed Media and for bringing this discussion forward and alerting Paula about her stamp, it's since been removed from the M3 collection. Wishing you a lovely weekend
Stamps have intriguing copyright laws too. Depending on the country, and how it was designed, the copyright doesn't always belong to the artist. For example, US Postal stamps made before 1971 are public domain, regardless of the artist. Some other countries have similar rules regarding postal stamps, and some artists who create for a specific company were commissioned by the government and therefore have no personal copyright to the image. Postal stamp copyright is very intriguing, and I totally went down a random rabbit hole of information because of your question. Thanks for teaching me something new!
