Nuts and Bolts: Copyright Infringement – What to Do
Whenever an artist puts their work on the Internet, the potential for copyright infringement is unavoidable. Even if the infringement is unintended, you should take reasonable steps to protect your intellectual property.
Here are tips that will help you identify and attempt to end such infringement. This is NOT intended as legal advice. We’re sharing our own experience. If you really need an attorney, get one.
What To Do If Someone Infringes On Your Copyright
Check the Internet: To discover copyright infringements, search engines like Google are your best friend. Every few months—there’s no need to go crazy— look up your name, your company name, and any other identifying details.
Make Contact: If you find a website or blog containing your image(s), whether for sale or for free, first look for contact info. Most sites have at least an e-mail address for getting in touch with the owner. Start by sending a polite note stating that you are the copyright owner of the images in question, the URL(s) of the pages where your art is displayed, and ask the images be removed within a reasonable time.
Why not send an official takedown notice right away? Because a lot of the time, the infringer doesn’t even realize they’re basically stealing your work. Many infringers are private individuals who will work with you once they understand they’re doing wrong. The best strategy is begin by giving the benefit of a doubt and go on from there.
Here’s an example:
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Dear (Owner’s name if you find one):
My name is (NAME) and I’m writing to let you know that the images you’re displaying on the following pages – (URLs) – is my copyrighted intellectual property and your use is in violation of Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Please remove these images by (DATE). If you have any questions, feel free to contact me. Thank you.
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Get the ISP Involved: If you’re unable to get satisfaction from the website owner, your next step is to contact the site’s ISP (Internet Service Provider). According to law, once contacted, they are obligated to remove the disputed material or face penalties. To find out a site’s ISP, use WhoIs Lookup. For sites with a country code (such as .uk, .jp, etc) you can try UWhoIs.com. Be aware that it can be almost impossible to get an ISP in a country other than the US to comply with your request. If it happens, my advice is to let it go and don’t waste your time unless you’ve got legal resources to burn.
Here’s an example of a DCMA takedown notice. Be sure to include your name, address and phone number as well as a physical or electronic signature. For more info and an easy to understand explanation, read In Plain English: A Quick Guide to DCMA Takedown Notices.
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My name is (NAME). A website your company hosts is infringing a copyright (OR NUMBER OF COPYRIGHTS) on image(s) owned by (ME or MY COMPANY).
The infringing images can be found at (URLs).
This letter is official notification under Section 512(c) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and I seek the removal of the aforementioned infringing material from your servers. I request that you immediately notify the infringer of this notice and inform them of their duty to remove the infringing material immediately, and notify them to cease any further posting of infringing material to your server in the future.
Please also be advised that law requires you, as a service provider, to remove or disable access to the infringing materials upon receiving this notice. Under US law a service provider enjoys immunity from a copyright lawsuit provided you act with deliberate speed to investigate and rectify ongoing copyright infringement. If service providers do not investigate and remove or disable the infringing material this immunity is lost. Therefore, for you to remain immune from a copyright infringement action you will need to investigate and ultimately remove or otherwise disable the infringing material from your servers with all due speed should the direct infringer, your client, not comply immediately.
I am providing this notice in good faith and with the reasonable belief that the rights (I or MY COMPANY) own are being infringed. Under penalty of perjury I certify that the information contained in the notification is both true and accurate, and I have the authority to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright(s) involved.
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Is the Infrnger Using AdSense? Google takes DCMA notices very seriously. If the infringer’s site has AdSense ads, you can report them to Google using the form linked on this blog post (see the bottom).
Get Legal Advice: Escalating to a lawsuit against an infringer is expensive in terms of time and money. However, if you really feel you must, or you want some legal advice on how to proceed, you’ll need a lawyer who has experience with copyright laws in your country. If you live in the U.S., Find Local Intellectual Property Lawyers offers a state by state search.
Protect Yourself by Registering: If your brand is a major source of income and you want to cover all your bases in case of possible future infringement with an eye to legal action, you can register your copyrights in the U.S. For more information on how to proceed, read Copyright Registration Law and Your Artwork.
And Finally, Let It Go: Sometimes, it just won’t be possible for you to do anything else about a copyright infringement. When that happens—and it will, it happens to every artist eventually—don’t fret yourself into a state or let the situation ruin your mood. Just let it go and move on to more productive matters like designing new cards or promoting your products so you’ll make even more $$ in the future.
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Inspiration Station: Easter 2015
In 2015, Easter falls on April 5, so there’s time for artists to get their new Easter designs uploaded and begin promoting them. Here are some inspirational resources to get your creative juices flowing!
In general, let me tell you that watercolors are a hot trend at the moment, so look to watercolor brushes, backgrounds, and Photoshop actions to take advantage of these popular designs. Have fun!
Easter Trends 2015
Not a huge amount of images, but there are ideas to be had.
Easter Trends
Lots more inspiration to study.
Easter Color Palettes
A bunch of colors for your Easter designs. Look out in particular for pastel mints, robin’s egg blues, pale pinks and peaches in combination.
Easter Cards
Greeting cards with an Easter theme, mainly handmade.
Easter Fonts
People like to make favorites lists, so it’s always worth it to have a look. You’ll need to check carefully to ensure a font you like is OK for commercial use.
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Dash of Inspiration: Design for All Cultures
A Dash of Inspiration, A Cup of Creativity by Doreen
Design for All Cultures
One way to inspire yourself as a designer is to research another culture and begin collecting elements to aid in the design of new cards. Simply because it’s worth saying twice, RESEARCH is the key to creating cards for a culture you are not familiar with and creating cards that are highly marketable to the demographic and will sell.
Here are some tips from my experience and methodology when tackling unfamiliar territory in new card design:
- Research the occasion/holiday by entering About ‘occasion’ in Google. Take the time to read and learn about the basics of what is being celebrated.
- Study the symbols which represent the celebration such as; the menorah for Hanukkah or a Kwanzaa Kinara.
- Find the colors associated with the occasion or holiday. When it comes to designing for cultures you are not familiar with, choosing to ‘be different’ by using a color palette which is non-traditional, may not only cause your card to lack marketability; but may also send a very different message than what was intended.
- Look for elements, phrases, colors, words, symbols to avoid in your design which may be considered bad luck or offensive to the culture you’re designing cards for.
- When you use words/phrases, common to the celebration for that culture, research to make sure what you are adding is correct and appropriate. Just because it’s all over the internet, or all over cards, doesn’t make it right. I like to search for blogs which speak and teach the language. I find those to be more accurate in the grammar and spelling. Then I seek a second opinion from someone who speaks and reads the language or is comfortable with the culture.
- When designing cards, particularly for kids and for occasions such as; birthdays and other common occasions/holidays, remember to do variations of people from different ethnic backgrounds. This expands your market.
Here are some cultural treasures for those culture-specific designs.
Turkey Istanbul – Shapes for PhotoShop + AI and EPS Vector format
If you are new to using dingbat fonts, read this for some great tips on how to make these fun fonts work as elements in your card designs: https://gcucommunity.com/2012/01/16/dash-of-inspiration-january-16-2011/
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If you missed our first Design Challenge post, there’s still time. Entry deadline is January 26th, so be sure to check it out and submit your design. The winning artist gets some awesome promotion!
https://gcucommunity.com/2015/01/05/dash-of-inspiration-january-design-challenge/
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So until next week … Learn … Create … Inspire
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Wanted: New Cards – Congratulations, Getting Your Prosthetic
Every Friday from now on, we’ll be showcasing a GCU category that has few or no cards. We’d like you to create at least one card for this category using the Stock Cards function (Bigstock).
Remember, when you’re submitting your new card, add a little note about the intended category in your Notes to Reviewers – cards submitted for underused categories are much more likely to be approved provided they follow the Submission Guidelines. Be inventive, be clever, be creative. Good luck!
Today’s category with only 1 card is:
Occasions – Congratulations – Getting Your Prosthesis/Prostheses/Prosthetic
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Throwback Thursday – Nuts and Bolts: Inside Verse
INSIDE VERSE
As an artist or photographer, images may come easy, words…not so much. Yet it’s a fact that shoppers are attracted to a card because of the design on the front, but they BUY the card because of what it says on the inside.
We sometimes forget that a greeting card is more than just a piece of paper with a pretty image – it’s a MESSAGE from the buyer to the recipient. A greeting card’s sentiment expresses what the buyer would say if they could but can’t, because feelings are hard to communicate. The card’s inside verse is part of a conversation as well as part of a relationship between two people.
To be successful, we must never lose sight of that simple truth.
If you want to write good greeting card copy, here are some things to avoid:
- Too Formal: The formality of your inside verse will depend on the card’s purpose. Unless you’re writing for a card that requires more formal language, such as condolence or wedding, you should keep your writing in tune with the tone. Don’t worry too much about correct grammar unless that degree of formality is required. Stay away from technical terms or obscure words unless you’re deliberately writing for a specialized niche market.
- Too Much Description: Avoid overuse of adjectives (unless you’re using them for effect). Once you write down your inside verse, eliminate all adjectives. Does that still get the message across? If not, try adding back one adjective at a time. Don’t go overboard.
- Too Much Schmaltz: While a heartfelt message can hit the mark, don’t go too far and drown your verse in syrupy sentiments. Simplify your inside verse, pare it down to its basics, and try to find ways of expressing your message without clichés. Be clear.
- Too Much of a Good Thing: Don’t go on and on in the mistaken belief that the longer your message, the more desirable. A verse that gets to the point without meandering around will always be preferred. If you can say it in one sentence, why use two? Shoppers need to be able to instantly grasp your point, so stay concise.
- Too Controversial: Avoid tasteless or insulting jokes unless you’re targeting a niche market. The general audience will likely give such cards a pass.
So how DO you write good inside verse? Here’s an exercise that may help: when considering inside verse, pretend you’re sitting with your best friend having a conversation. How would you speak to them? What words would you use? How would you connect with them?
As creators of greeting cards, we must remember that a card is like a hand of friendship extended from one person to another. Our words are the most important part of our designs, and could be the reason why an otherwise attractive design isn’t selling.
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Tips and Tricks: Retro Photoshop Action
Spoon Graphics offers a free Photoshop action with some examples which will turn your photos into cool black and white retro engravings—perfect for the trendy vintage look and OK for commercial use. Have fun!
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Dash of Inspiration: Freebies Week
A Dash of Inspiration, A Cup of Creativity by Doreen
Freebies Week
Easter is April 5th this year, so now is a good time to be thinking about creating some new designs for this popular card-giving holiday. Today I found some fun commercial use freebies for you to grab which might inspire you to start creating!
If you are new to using dingbat fonts, read this for some great tips on how to make these fun fonts work as elements in your card designs: https://gcucommunity.com/2012/01/16/dash-of-inspiration-january-16-2011/
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Seamless Paper Texture
http://www.wildtextures.com/free-textures/seamless-paper-texture/
Diagonal Checker Seamless Pattern on Cloth
http://www.wildtextures.com/free-textures/green-violet-diagonal-checker-pattern-on-cloth/
Also, if you are new to GCU, let me help you catch up by offering this older post which features some fun and free pattern making programs so you can create your own unique patterns.
https://gcucommunity.com/2014/01/27/dash-of-inspiration-free-pattern-makers/
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Goodbye – A Free Handwritten Font Face
http://wegraphics.net/downloads/goodbye-a-free-handwritten-font-face/
Sequence – A Free Handy All Caps Font Face
http://wegraphics.net/downloads/sequence-a-free-handy-all-caps-font-face/
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Here are some wonderful color palettes to inspire those spring creations.
30 Creative Easter Color Palettes for Graphic Designers By Brian Morris
http://blog.psprint.com/designing/30-creative-easter-color-palettes-graphic-designers/
Beautiful selection of Easter/Spring color palettes on Pinterest.
http://www.pinterest.com/search/?q=easter+color+palette
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If you missed our first Design Challenge post, there’s still time. Entry deadline is January 26th, so be sure to check it out and submit your design. The winning artist gets some awesome promotion!
https://gcucommunity.com/2015/01/05/dash-of-inspiration-january-design-challenge/
So until next week … Learn … Create … Inspire!
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Wanted: New Cards – Thinking of You, Away at College
Every Friday from now on, we’ll be showcasing a GCU category that has few or no cards. We’d like you to create at least one card for this category using Bigstock cards.
Remember, when you’re submitting your new card, add a little note about the intended category in your Notes to Reviewers – cards submitted for underused categories are much more likely to be approved provided they follow the Submission Guidelines. Be inventive, be clever, be creative. Good luck!
Today’s category with only 4 cards is:
Occasions > Thinking of You > Away at College
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Throwback Thursday – Nuts and Bolts: Categories
How To Choo-choo-choose the Right Categories
Greeting Card Universe has a dizzying variety of categories including unusual and obscure ones. As a business, this is their strength: the ability to provide cards to fit a customer’s every need. As artists, the category system can be puzzling, confusing and downright frustrating at times. However, don’t tear your hair out. Help is on the way.
The first thing artists need to understand is that GCU’s category system is highly specialized and incredibly specific. Because of this degree of specialization, every greeting card must be designed to fit exactly into its desired category.
This is a difficult concept, I know. No other POD is as stringent. Nobody else seems determined to make you conform. Newcomers especially seem to have a hard time adjusting their thinking. Let me break it down for you as simply as I can: you must categorize a card only by WHAT IT ACTUALLY IS, not what it could be.
For example, you’ve got a beautiful picture of a dewy red rose. You think this image is appropriate for a number of categories like Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day. You even put “I love you” in a lovely script font on the front. Okay, you’re right – it could fit either category. Problem is, unless the card actually has “Happy Valentine’s Day” or “Happy Mother’s Day” somewhere on it, you cannot put it in those categories. As it stands, if you submit this card as is, you can only put it in Collections >> Flowers & Garden (where there are over 130,000 cards right now).
Repeat after me: WHAT THE CARD ACTUALLY IS, not what it could be.
It sounds counter-intuitive, but it’s actually a very logical system once you wrap your brain around it, and GCU has made category selection even simpler during the card creation process.
Bottom line: think like a shopper, not an artist.
No one is out to stifle your creativity. No one at GCU is deliberately trying to make you cry, I promise. I know the concept can be difficult, and it’s a major reason for card returns. You need to understand that the Reviewers aren’t going to correct categories for you. In rare instances, they might add a second category if you haven’t and it’s appropriate, but do not count on their intervention. It’s YOUR responsibility to get the categories right, and if you don’t…well, you’ll be seeing a lot of those Returned for Edits notifications in your e-mail.
Best advice: don’t try to shoehorn an existing design into a category it doesn’t fit exactly. Seasoned artists know the best way to design cards is to look at the categories first. This can actually help you make future sales – you can find niche or orphan categories that have few or no cards in them, and be able to design cards to fill those categories.
Why should you care about niche and orphan categories? Let’s face it – there are literally thousands and thousands of general birthday cards (over 8000, in fact, as of this writing). Shoppers doing an on-site search or browsing certain categories receive pages and pages of search results. Chances are, if your card isn’t in the first couple of pages, you’ll miss out. Cards in niche and orphan categories don’t have a lot of competition. This is a golden opportunity you shouldn’t miss.
So before you design a card, take a look at the categories list. Just go to the GCU homepage (you’ll see a “Home” link at the top of every page, click the link “Browse Our Entire Selection of Holiday Cards, and you’ll be able to find and click on whatever categories interest you. What makes this list worth your while is that you can instantly how many cards are in each category and sub-category – valuable information for any artist serious about wanting to sell greeting cards.
Sometimes there’s a little confusion when it comes to age- or relationship-specific cards. Let me clarify GCU’s current policy: you should place such cards in the exact category and sub-category that fits it (ie, Happy Mother’s Day to my Birth Mom goes into Holidays >> Mother’s Day >> For Birth Mother) PLUS a collections category if it fits (ie, your Mother’s Day card has a cow on it, so it can also go into Collections >> Animals/Pets >> Farm Animals as the second category.
Now we have to talk about General vs. specific categories. This one can be tricky. Here’s how it works: a general greeting card can be sent to anyone for that occasion (ie, a card that simply says Happy Grandparents Day can be sent to any grandparent, and goes into Holidays >> Grandparents Day >> General Grandparents Day), while a specific greeting card would go into the appropriate sub-category (ie, a card that says Happy Grandparents Day from Your Grandkids goes into Holidays >> Grandparents Day >> From Grandchildren).
A card in either General or a specific category can also go into an appropriate Collections category. However, you cannot put a General card into a specific category. Scratching your head yet? Let’s take my previous example.
The general Happy Grandparents Day card I mentioned… just because a shopper COULD send it as a “missing you” card doesn’t mean you can put it into the Missing You on Grandparents Day subcategory. Only if the card SAYS “missing you”, and then it wouldn’t go into the General category, only into the appropriate subcategory.
Repeat after me again: WHAT THE CARD ACTUALLY IS, not what it could be.
If you grasp this principle, I guarantee you will have less cards returned for edits, and you will save yourself a lot of frustration. Let that be your mantra, and you’ll be all right.
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Font Frenzy: StateFace
StateFace is a free font featuring all 50 U.S. Stats plus Puerto Rico! While the silhouettes are simplified, they still work very well in this dingbat font, allowing you to make state specific card designs. BONUS: Need to know which letter creates which state? This very handy graph will give you all the info! (Just scroll down the page a little). Have fun!
GCU Community 