Rowen Griffith January 9, 2014 Period 06

When defining the terms infringement and plagiarism in terms of art and design, there are many aspects to account for. Rights for Artist define infringement as the unlawful use, redistribution and or exploitation of intellectual property that is protected by copyright, patent or trademark. Whether all of the work or only part of the work is used it is still considered infringement if the copyrighted material is used without permission. No matter the severity of the infringement, it is a punishable offense. Plagiarism and infringement are very similar in the idea that one is using another persons work. The difference is that the material being copied is not protected by copyright, patent or trademark. To avoid plagiarism, make sure to always source the materials you used.

The University of Maryland University College defines fair use as, the most significant limitation on the copyright holder's exclusive rights. Whether something is considered fair use is hard to identify because there is not a science. There are no set guidelines; rather the individual who wants to use the material must decide using four factors: the purpose and character of the use, the nature of the copyrighted work, the amount and substantiality of the portion used, and the effect of use on the potential market for the copyrighted work. As a student fair use applies to me because I am constantly using other peoples materials for school.

Royalty-free images are images that royalty cannot be charged on. Meaning there is a contract between a licensor and licensee stating that once the content is licensed under a set of guidelines, the licensee is normally free to use it in perpetuity without paying additional royalty charges. (Wikipedia) The difference between a royalty-free image and copyright-free image is, a copyright-free image either is a work that the author has given up to the copyright to, or the copyright has expired. In the case of using royalty-free images be sure to check if the licensor has defined specific conditions for the use of their work.

The myth that if you modify or alter an image it is not considered infringement is not true. One of the exclusive rights granted under copyright is the individual right of the copyright owner to create derivative works from their original copyrighted material. Therefore, unless given permission by the copyrights owner, it is still considered infringement and is punishable by law. Whenever dealing with anything that is not your own original material, site your sources or get permission.