“It is better to fail in originality than to succeed in imitation” – Herman Melville.

Whether they do it for love or for money, all creatives want their work to be original. Originality is seen as the yardstick of creative skill and talent. But for the purposes of copyright protection, what is the threshold of creativity that makes a work original?

Whether they are contemplating action against an infringer, or their own work is challenged, it is important that creatives understand the concept of originality.

(more…)

I was recently on one of my more vociferous tirades… something to do with prolific creative theft, copying and piracy… about the flagrant disregard for the rights of fellow creatives (and their livelihoods). How can everyone be so dishonest and selfish? As always, reason found me eventually and calm returned. This time it came in the form of a lawyer friend… She rightly pointed out that in many (if not most) cases involving copyrights there is no clear antagonist, no obvious victim. Put simply: both parties often feel that they are in the right.

(more…)

In Part 1 of our series of articles on copyright for graphic designers, I introduced you to the basics of copyright – what it is, how it can be infringed and how to protect it.

In Part 2, I will look at the traditional ways you can make money from your creativity.

Copyright is like a picnic basket with different goodies inside. You may not want everyone to share everything in your basket, and instead you want to limit what they can and cannot do with your copyright. For example: you may allow one person to publish your work as is, while allowing another to adapt it and publish a new version.

(more…)

If you are a designer, your bread and butter is your creative work. Unfortunately, the internet and other digital technologies have made it easier for copycats to steal your work or pass it off as their own. The law of copyright is there to protect you. But if you don’t know how copyright works or how you can use it to protect your work, it is pretty useless.

In this series of articles, we hope to arm you with some working knowledge on copyright and how you can use it to protect your creative work.

What is copyright?

Without getting into the legalese, copyright is basically the right to stop other people from copying, publishing or adapting your creative work without your permission.

Looking at from the opposite angle, the owner of the copyright in an original work has the exclusive right to copy it, publish it, display it, distribute it, or make new works from it.

(more…)

So Myows is all about protecting and managing… well Your OWs.

But what exactly is an OW?

The official version that you’ll find on the Myows site is: “Anything you create that is not a copy of something else and has been ‘reduced to material form’ (meaning it’s not just an idea).”

(more…)