SU Library: GDES 210: Graphic Design I: Image Use &amp; Copyright

Some Terms to Know

Copyright

The protection given to any created image or work for being copied or distributed without permission. All images are immediately given copyright to the creator when the image is created.

Fair Use

The legal right to use copyrighted images as long as the images are used for education, research, or personal use; or as long as the image benefits the public good in some way.

Creative Commons

Images that are copyrighted but that the creator has put provisions on their use. A creative commons license might stipulate, for example, that an image can be used as long as it isn't modified in any way.

Public Domain

Images that no longer have copyright restrictions either because the creator willingly relinquished their copyright or because the creator is dead and no one owns the copyright.

Trademark

A word, phrase, symbol, design, or combination thereof that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.

Transformative

A work of art is considered transformative if it takes a previously established work of art and turns it into something new.

Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts

Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts

Code of Best Practices in Fair Use in the Visual Arts is the go-to resource for determining whether you can claim fair use or not when using copyrighted materials. The Code covers the following five questions:

Analytic Writing- When may scholars and other writers about art invoke fair use to quote, excerpt, or reproduce copyrighted works?
Teaching about Art- When may teachers invoke fair use in using copyrighted materials to support formal instruction in a range of settings, including online and distance learning?
Making Art- Under what circumstances may artists invoke fair use to incorporate copyrighted material into new artworks in any medium?
Museum Uses- When may museums and their staffs invoke fair use in using copyrighted materials when organizing exhibitions, developing educational materials, publishing catalogs, and other related activities?
Online Access to Archival and Special Collections- When may such institutions and their staffs invoke fair use to create digital preservation copies and/or enable digital access to copyrighted materials in their collections?

College Art Association. "Programs: Fair Use." Accessed February 27, 2020. http://www.collegeart.org/programs/caa-fair-use.

Fair Use

Why is fair use so important?

Fair use allows you to use copyrighted material in your academic work. By claiming fair use, you can download and use images in your papers, presentations, and projects while you are here at Stevenson University.

Please remember: you must still include the citation for the piece of art you are using!

FAQ about Fair Use from CAA

Trademark, patent, and copyright

Using trademarked logos or images in your art is allowed under a certain set of circumstances. If you want to incorporate a company's trademarked logo into your art, it must be for at least one of the following reasons:

Commentary & criticism: using another's trademarked image is permissible if your work is a commentary on that brand. Similar to freedom of speech, you are not infringing on anyone's trademark.

Nominative fair use: This is the legal term for using a trademarked image or logo to identify a product. For example: if you were drawing a picture of a coffee shop and wanted it to be clear that it was a Starbucks, you could incorporate the image of the Starbucks logo.

Parodies: You can also use trademarked elements in parodies, as long as the parody is not tied too directly to commercial use.

Here is a useful and short article about using trademarked images in the creation of art.

Image Use In Graphic Design

In the field of Graphic Design, the use of images created by other artists is commonplace. Before incorporating another artist's work, please read through the information below and consider the fair use and copyright laws that apply.

Using images in your art

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GDES 210: Graphic Design I: Image Use & Copyright

Some Terms to Know

Copyright

The protection given to any created image or work for being copied or distributed without permission. All images are immediately given copyright to the creator when the image is created.

Fair Use

The legal right to use copyrighted images as long as the images are used for education, research, or personal use; or as long as the image benefits the public good in some way.

Creative Commons

Images that are copyrighted but that the creator has put provisions on their use. A creative commons license might stipulate, for example, that an image can be used as long as it isn't modified in any way.

Public Domain

Images that no longer have copyright restrictions either because the creator willingly relinquished their copyright or because the creator is dead and no one owns the copyright.

Trademark

A word, phrase, symbol, design, or combination thereof that identifies and distinguishes the source of the goods of one party from those of others.

Transformative

A work of art is considered transformative if it takes a previously established work of art and turns it into something new.

Code of Best Practices in Fair Use for the Visual Arts

Fair Use

Why is fair use so important?

Fair use allows you to use copyrighted material in your academic work. By claiming fair use, you can download and use images in your papers, presentations, and projects while you are here at Stevenson University.

Please remember: you must still include the citation for the piece of art you are using!

FAQ about Fair Use from CAA

Trademark, patent, and copyright

Using trademarked logos or images in your art is allowed under a certain set of circumstances. If you want to incorporate a company's trademarked logo into your art, it must be for at least one of the following reasons:

Commentary & criticism: using another's trademarked image is permissible if your work is a commentary on that brand. Similar to freedom of speech, you are not infringing on anyone's trademark.

Nominative fair use: This is the legal term for using a trademarked image or logo to identify a product. For example: if you were drawing a picture of a coffee shop and wanted it to be clear that it was a Starbucks, you could incorporate the image of the Starbucks logo.

Parodies: You can also use trademarked elements in parodies, as long as the parody is not tied too directly to commercial use.

Here is a useful and short article about using trademarked images in the creation of art.

Image Use In Graphic Design

In the field of Graphic Design, the use of images created by other artists is commonplace. Before incorporating another artist's work, please read through the information below and consider the fair use and copyright laws that apply.

Using images in your art