You have a big business event coming up soon and you want to get people talking about it. To generate interest in your upcoming event, you decide to produce some promotional materials. After browsing online, you found some images that would be perfect for your promotional campaign. Now you're thinking of featuring them on your giveaways through art printing.
So, are you allowed to do that? Not everyone is familiar with copyright laws regarding photo printing, especially when they involve images found online. Learn more about them by continuing with the rest of this article.
Laws about Printing Images You Created
Let's start by discussing art printing rules involving images you created. According to U.S. copyright law, any work falls under copyright protection the moment it is created. Of course, since you are the one who created that artwork, printing it yourself won't be an issue.
Things get a bit more complicated if you want to sue someone who used your art without your permission. Generally speaking, your artwork should be registered if you want to sue someone for using it without your permission. That's the best way for you to ensure that you'll receive compensation if someone uses your work illegally. Keep that in mind when you post a piece of artwork online that is accessible to everyone.
Laws about Printing Images You Didn't Create
In 2020, sales of arts and antiques worldwide reached an estimated $50.1 billion. Money is abundant in the art world, but not everyone is getting their fair share. That's due in part to the illegal use of online images.
Using art printing to reproduce your work is one thing. The situation is different if you're thinking of using some images you found online. You can get into trouble if you print an image without getting sufficient clearance first.
Before you print anything, try to identify the owner of the image and request permission from them. Specifically mention that you intend to use the image for business if that is the case. You may have to pay the owner of the image to get their permission to print it.
If the image you found is in the public domain, then printing it should be no issue. Images with creative commons licenses differ in terms of being eligible for commercial use so check the license carefully. Websites that offer images for free may permit commercial use as long as certain guidelines are followed.
As much as possible, you should avoid using images that have no clear ownership. It's just too risky to do anything with an image like that. Look for a different image and avoid a potential legal headache.
The copyright laws regarding art printing are fairly easy to grasp. If you exercise caution before getting any image printed, you shouldn't run into unexpected trouble. Reach out to us if you need art printing done quickly and we'll give you the high-quality products you're looking for!