Legal Implications of graphics design P6

Graphics design can be quite a delicate matter when it comes to the law. There are various laws restricting what can be done with other peoples work. The law though, may differ from country to country so over the internet it can be difficult to sort out properly.

Copyright means the right to copy. When someone produces something, it must be assumed that the person has the copyright of what has been made. When this is the case, anybody else wishing to use their work must seek approval off them or legal action could possibly be taken. Aside from this though, most of the time action is taken when money is being made from someone else's work.

Gaining permission to use someone elses work requires you do simply ask the creator. In some cases a fee would be requested especially if the work was going to be used commercially. The fee's can be from thousands to millions depending on what it actually is and who needs to use it. If the work is a photograph then the person that has been photographed must sign a model release form to allow the work to be used commercially.

There are some designs that may be copyright free. This is when the owner allows their work to be used freely to anyone. One popular example of copyright free material would be some user made fonts. Some of these can be used however people want, although some copyright free designs are restricted from being used commerically by the owner.

To indentify the owner of a design they usually have some sort of text near or around the work to indentify who the owner actually is. If they are not labeled then they could be copyright free or belong to a company/website.