Clip Art Copyright Laws
There are millions of clip art images available on software CDs or downloadable directly from the Internet. Illustrations are incredibly varied to include birthdays, holidays, sports events, animals, business and people. Clip art is available as either royalty-free or rights-protected. If the files are royalty-free they can be used in any document as many times as you like, however, a license for use must be purchased. Rights-protected images may only be used once and under stricter guidelines.
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History
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The name "clip art" comes from books of printed black and white designs that were cut out and pasted onto artwork. Today images are full color electronic files.
Warning
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Copyright infringement is akin to theft and is punishable to the fullest extent of the law. The 1976 Copyright Act has been edited to include the "No Electronic Theft Act (NET Act)." This means civil and criminal prosecution is possible for those who copy works without permission even if personal monetary gain was not achieved.
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Function
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Graphic artists use clip art in print design such as direct mail, advertisements and brochures. Web designers use the files to make a page more eye-catching or aesthetically pleasing.
Types
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Files are available in different file formats for easy use in different programs. Encapsulated Postscript (.eps), Tagged Image File Format (.tiff), Adobe Illustrator (.ai), and Joint Photographic Experts Group (.jpeg) files are the most popular.
Features
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Raster images are created in one size. If they are enlarged image quality is lost and the illustrations get pixelated. Vector images can be resized in imaging software without losing quality.
Prevention/Solution
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Some webmasters have disabled right clicking on an image so it cannot be saved to a private computer. This decreased the possibility that the image will be used without permission.
Identification
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Images that are not in the public domain must be purchased before use. Clip art cannot be downloaded or copied off a web site without permission from the author/creator.
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