The Web is a publishing
medium,
yet not everyone who has a homepage is here to "publish" as such, so it is
often very tempting to simply ignore such items as copyright or trademark
concerns. After all, those things are only meant for actual businesses, right?
Some persons erroneously think so.
A good friend of mine described
the "non-published" Web pages as being something like a scrapbook set out
on your coffee table, so that when friends drop by, they can sift through
the collection of your thoughts and ideas, favorite music,
little articles or illustrations you've snipped from magazines,
decorated with assorted stickers and doodles and whatnot. From a publishing
field's view, that treatment of those stickers and snippets is considered
"personal use" and is perfectly legal. However, if you took that same scrapbook
down to the local printer and had 10 copies made, that's called vanity
publishing, and would almost assuredly place you in violation of a copyright
or two. Making ten copies probably won't get you noticed legally, but the
chance of being penalized for a copyright infringement increases exponentially
with the extent of your distribution.
The Internet is subject to
the same
legalities as paper publishing, yet the awkward hurdle in this is that not
everyone who "publishes" on the Web is actually intending to be
publishing. Many are merely sharing their snippets and stickers and doodles
and whatnot with a relatively small circle of friends and kindred spirits.
They're not running in "the big game," not trying to compete with Simon &
Schuster, Time-Life or Hallmark. And yet, when you put your "scrapbook" on
the WorldWide Web, you've increased your range of distribution substantially
enough to be legally noticed.
This is something
every Web publisher (i.e.: anyone with a home page) should understand.
I enjoy the Web very much,
and I've never had a problem with anyone who wants to use an image from one
of my pages to illustrate a link back to my page from their own. I consider
that not only "fair use," but the winglift is also appreciated here. However,
I feel both confused and insulted whenever someone swipes a piece of my work
and slaps it onto their own page as if it was theirs -- no return link, no
credit line. You don't want your visitors taking a piece of your scrapbook
home with them to pretend its part of their scrapbook, and I don't appreciate
those who pretend my work is their own. I've received a number of honest
inqueries from persons hoping to use portions of my page graphics, but I
have only approved one of those and it's one you won't see
on the Web. So when you see my wings bar, my harp icon, my wings icon, etc.
on other sites, be aware that those persons displaying the graphics have
simply stolen the images from AngelDreams. Why would anyone
want to do that?
"Thievery" is such a harsh term
(no matter how accurate) and particularly ironic when we're speaking
of persons who also apparently enjoy angels and assumedly have some standard
of ethics. I am frequently roaming the Web in search of new
angel sites to include in AngelDreams, and I've
seen a great many examples of stolen graphics
and even text in some instances. I would like to believe that these
persons actually are honorable at heart and that, as my friend suggested,
they think they are just sharing a "pretty scrapbook" without understanding
they are in fact publishing. Even so, what they're doing is illegal and also
just plain not nice. :-(
Let me share a secret with you --
there is never a need to steal anything from the Web, particularly
if it's a portion of a web page. If you see something too wonderful to dismiss,
ask the owner if you can use it. In many cases, the response will
be in the positive, and it's so very simple to make the request. If the response
is, "Sure, take it, I can't remember where I got it from," then pass, because
it's probably already been stolen, and if you put it on your page, you're
as liable as the original thief. If the response is negative or no response
at all, then accept that and just keep looking around -- because somewhere
out there is another item very similar to what you were drooling over
that is available for the asking! Just keep looking!
I know how hard it seems
to locate good angel artwork that can be used on the Web without setting
you back a few bucks. I have tried to put up the best angel clipart I 've
found on my AngelClips page for downloading. I realize however, that
b/w or grayscale images don't respond to everyone's wishes, particularly
not for those who feel they have no artistic talent with which to color or
otherwise modify the images. I think most of the angel graphic thefts on
the Web have taken place not out of malice but from ignorance as well as
due to the minimal selection of free or shareware materials readily accessible
related to angels. This isn't to say the lack of materials gave those persons
the "right" to steal, but it may have contributed to their self-justification
of the theft, and that saddens me, so I wanted to do something about it.
One of my guidelines in life
has been, "if you can't find what you want, create it." What I wanted at
this point was a broad selection of angel-themed Web-style graphics that
I could offer for downloading that wouldn't obligate a user for anything
more than a hyperlink. So I began creating what I wanted by doing what anyone
can do -- start with a piece of clipart and modify it with color, etc., making
it suitable for use on the Web. I also worked from my own original designs
and further expanded the concept to additional types of items. Before I knew
it, I had accumulated nearly 40 megabytes of angel graphics, far too much
to put on one page! Therefore, AngelClips is soon going to be replaced
by AngelKisses 3...and accompanied by AngelKisses 1, 2 and
4 as well. Each page will be stuffed with angel graphics -- illustrations,
icons, banners, backgrounds -- an angel webmaster's dream!
And that is the basic tale of how
AngelKisses first began to be. In case I've confused anyone, let me
clarify that this set of pages isn't being constructed for those who disregard
legalities. There are persons who will still steal the work of others, even
with the abundance of free offerings, but they don't inspire me.
AngelKisses is being made for the many people who have contributed
to its emergence by visiting AngelDreams and providing wonderful feedback.
It's for those who didn't realize their simple web page is a publication
with a potential distribution in the millions and subject to legalities.
It's for those who did know and have wanted to add graphics to their angel
page but don't have the ability to easily create their own. And it's for
all of us who enjoy angelic images and just can't seem to get enough. My
hope is that these are the persons who will most enjoy and benefit from these
pages. Perhaps there are also other artists who will be inspired as I have
been, to create a stack of angel images in their own styles for free use
or as small-payment shareware (such as a simple hyperlink).
And that would be wonderful! :)
~Varian
May 1997 |