Original
Graphics and Respect...
 When
I started creating my web pages, I used lots of graphics I got
right-clicking in many sites. At that time I did not know much
about the importance of copyrights and giving credit and I thought
that everything that was on the Internet was public domain.
When
we use other people's work such as graphics, texts, or any other
material, first, we must make sure we have permission to use
it, then we must not forget to give credit on the same page.
Why on the same page if it is much easier to create a single
page for credits ? Because there are still many people unaware
of copyright laws who think that every material on the Internet
is Public Domain. When they cannot find any credit on a page,
it may lead to the misinterpretation that it is public domain,
so everyone can do whatever they want to, such as altering, copying,
placing them in public domain galleries or selling.
 There are
so many talented people all over the world who are generous enough
to allow us to use their work, so the least we can do is to show
respect and appreciation by giving proper credit and respecting
their rules.
Most
graphics sites offer linkware graphics for free without registration,
but recently more and more graphic artists have been requiring
registration due to theft and the misuse of their graphics. Some
registrations are free, but there are artists who ask for a fee
to make use of the graphics. Why do they do this ? Because they
want to protect their work and control who is going to use their
graphics and how.
 In case
we cannot, or do not agree with the paid registration and do
not want to pay for the fee, we must respect and not steal any
graphic and use them without authorization, or copy to make new
graphics and claim them as our own. There are still lots of graphics
sites which do not require a fee to register and we will certainly
find something of our interest.
 We can
use other people's graphics, but they will always retain their
copyright, even if their sites don't exist anymore. Using their
graphics in our sites will never make them Public Domain. |
Here
are some tips for saving graphics which are very useful:
|
1.
Create a folder with the name of the site you are saving the
graphics from before you start to download the graphics.
2.
Read the artist's terms of use and print it for later use.
3.
Put a link to the site where the graphics you are using belong
to, the moment you place them in your pages. This way you will
not forget to give credit. |
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And
in case a site has closed, the author's terms of use must continue
to be followed. |
If
you have time and patience, you can also do like I do. After
I save the graphics to my computer, I copy them to a CD, all
organized in separate folders with the names of the sites, the
names of the authors and the urls to link back. I also organize
all my disks in alphabetical order, so it is much easier to find
a graphic some time later.
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All
graphics in this site are used with the permission of their authors
and I always provide a link to their sites at the bottom of all
pages. It is not allowed to right-click anywhere on this site
to save the graphics I use, to do this, people must click on
the logos, or text links, I always provide in all my pages that
will lead to the graphics creators' web sites. |
 |
Say
no to plagiarism and graphics theft ! Let's work together and
try to stop it by making people from all over the world aware
of these problems.
~
Beautiful graphics by: Primitive Samplings ~ Magnolia Station ~ Graphics by Irene ~
My especial thanks to Melissa and Shannaleah for allowing the
use of these graphics. |
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