I broached this subject yesterday in the shoutbox and was surprised that no response came. It may have had to do with the time of day as it was later in the day.
When discussing art and ownership many think it is a simple subject. I do not. I believe it is very complicated.
So here is a hypothetical question....if someone draws a sketch on a piece of paper and says this is what I want, who owns it then?
Let me tell you my point of view. You ask a loaded question. What did they draw? Was it a original of their own or was it something they saw before.
Copyright is not cut and dry. If your looking to protect your art then you have to have money put aside to defend your ownership. Yes you can do all the legal stuff to protect it but that does not stop people from using it. Anyone can come into any screen printing shop and say I created this mouse and I want it put on shirts. Do we do a back ground check and image search to make sure they truly have the right to print that image on shirts? No. No way do we have that time. I honestly don't feel we could stay in business if we had to. Who's job is it to? You the creator of the art. Do teh legal stuff so that when you find someone using your art an making a ton of money you can sue. Then you get to take all their money they made off your art. Well that is if you have a better lawyer.
If you want more knowledge on copyright this is a good start. Its old but still helps.
http://www.amazon.com/Electronic-Highway-Robbery-Artists-Copyrights/dp/0201883937
