Important: This article contains opinions and information about copyright law. Keep in mind that I am not a lawyer and have not been a lawyer in any past life that I am aware of. If you have specific questions about copyright law you should contact the appropriate legal resources.
Have you ever surfed the net and accidentally bumped into a site which looks familiar, but you just cannot put your finger on it? Or perhaps you like something like Star Trek, and you've noticed that site after site has exactly the same images, wallpapers and desktop themes? Or perhaps you've run into an article that seems ... like you've seen it before?
Perhaps you have seen them before - because it just may be that someone has "borrowed" something from another site.
Paramount (the owners of Star Trek) has run into this problem again and again. Some people just think that they can simply copy images right off their web site and add them to their own sites. It's gotten so bad that Paramount has even sent letters to some sites asking them to take down the offending material.
I've even seen whole web pages just and inserted into a new site without regard for copyrights or anything like that. I've have heard on occasion of an entire site that's been copied!
Okay, so you see a picture or image or something that you feel would be perfect for your site. What do you do?
That's easy. First, see if you can find a copyright page somewhere on the site. It may be that the site owner has already given you permission to copy - usually in return for a link back. If you don't see that the site owner has given you permission, then send off an email and ask! Virtually all webmasters will allow you to copy a few things if you ask nicely and offer a link in exchange.
If you see some artwork or something like that and you think it will be perfect for a stationery, website background or theme, again, go ahead and ask the artist. It's only common courtesy! After all, the artist put in lots of effort to create the piece in which you are interested - he deserves to be asked. And again, most (but not all) artists will be happy to grant an occasional copy elsewhere.
And oh yes, if you see something that appears to be a blatant copy, you might just zip a quick email off to the legal copyright owner (if you can identify them) and let them know.
Unless otherwise noted, all photos and text is Copyright © Richard G Lowe, Jr.