P6 - Evidence for Obtaining Permission to use Copyrighted Material

During development for my game, I had found a pink bubble which I wanted to use for my character design. Once I found the designer of the pink bubble, Violet Green, I contacted him via email in hopes I would be granted permission to use it.

 

Unfortunately, I had been denied permission to use the copyrighted pink bubble for my game, and I looked no further in finding permission to use the pink bubble.

P6 - Legal Limitations on Using Images

Copyright is a way for the owner of a creative product such as an image, photo, model etc. to protect the product from being used by other people. After copyrighting a product, the owner has certain laws in their favour to avoid the product being used. Once copyrighted, the copyright for the product is in place for 70 years after the death of the owner. The idea behind copyrighting work is to enable the creator some sort of compensation for their efforts in creating the work.

‘Essentially, the 1988 Act and amendment establishes that copyright in most works lasts until 70 years after the death of the creator if known, otherwise 70 years after the work was created or published (fifty years for computer-generated works).’ 1

When using images, music or other creative products publicly, you need to get permission from the owner of the product before using it. Firstly, you should identify the owner of the copyrighted product by finding the copyright symbol which will include the name of the owner next to it. Once you have identified who the owner is, you need to contact the owner, which can be done my electronics, verbally or a written agreement, and ask for permission to use it.

There is such a thing as copyright free (or Royalty Free). Copyright free refers to being able to use copyrighted material without paying for fees or licences.

There are many exceptions to which copyright can be diverted. Fair dealing (or Fair Use Doctrine) is a term used to describe certain activities that are allowed to use copyrighted material with limited copyright terms. Firstly, education is a way to avoid paying licences for use. With products that are needed for educational use, there is usually an agreement for an educational edition of the product which also usually has limitations, but will require no fees or licences. When using copyright work for educational purposes, there are certain conditions to be followed, which are as followed:

• The copy is made for the purposes of research or private study.
• The copy is made for non-commercial purposes.
• The source of the material is acknowledged.
• The person making the copy does not make copies of the material available for a number of people.

Another exception to copyright is parody. Parody is the act of imitating, mocking or criticising a product. One of the conditions with parodying copyrighted material is to ensure the parodies content is not substantial.

Bibliography

1 - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright,_Designs_and_Patents_Act_1988