Chris Tolley's "Copyrights and wrongs"

This picture, entitled "Le trahison ne termine jamais " is, of course, inspired by a famous and controversial painting by René Magritte. Magritte's picture shows a tobacco pipe, underneath which is the legend "ceci n'est pas une pipe". Magritte's picture from 1926 is called "le trahison d'images" = "the treachery of images"; mine, created on 15 July 2001, has a title which means "the treachery never stops". Magritte's point was that if you were to ask those who saw his painting what it was, they would naturally reply that it was a pipe. But Magritte, (who would be in the perfect position to know, being both the creator of the work and a rather perceptive fellow - as his other paintings show) would reply, of course it isn't a pipe; it's an image of a pipe. My creation above makes the same point. Millions of faithful Roman Catholics (and others) will recognise the person appearing in the picture as a twentieth-century Pope, yet once again the same comment applies: this is not Paul VI (formerly known as Giovanni Battista Montini), but merely a picture of him. The title I have given this picture is to indicate that pictures are still being confused with the real things, though since Magritte pointed all this out generations ago, one might reasonably have thought that we would have got the point by now.

Given what this page is about, some of you may wonder how I can get away with using this picture. Well, the truth is that I am getting away with nothing. This picture is on a CD of religious images and clipart that I bought (Click-Art Religious Graphics ©1999 The Learning Company Inc.), and therefore paid a licence fee to use. The image is used here within the terms of the licensing agreement for that CD. The rest, including the rather witty take on Magritte's famous one-liner, is my own work.

In contrast, I did originally intend to use a copy of Magritte's original picture here. I searched the web, to find a source for it. I discovered the picture in several places on the web, and emailed the owners of all those sites to ask permission for me to display a copy of the file used at their web-site on mine. One person replied, and graciously granted me permission. However, that was not the end of it. Even though Magritte died some decades ago, the copyright protection of his works continues. It is administered in the UK by an organisation called DACS. I contacted DACS to enquire about how much it might cost to use a copy of that image on this page. The minimum invoice they raise is for sixty pounds, which was more than I was prepared to part with. Therefore, you do not see Magritte's picture on this page. (So here, yet again is an important point made: I had acquired a computer file which was a graphic representation of this picture. I had the permission of the person whose website it was being displayed at to use it. However, what I did not have was a licence to display the representation from the copyright holder - and therefore I cannot use it. More proof of the differences between original objects and pictures of them.)

I am saddened and disappointed that I have found myself writing anything at all about copyright here. I never thought I would have to - after all, I assumed that people would know the difference between right and wrong, and wouldn't need to have it pointed out to them. Alas, I was mistaken - or at least somewhat over-optimistic.

The reason this page came into being at all is that someone violated my copyright, and I had to spend time and money sorting that out. If you're interested in that, you can read about it here. Having done so, it seemed to me that it wouldn't hurt to spell out what copyright means, and also how you can use my images and text without violating my copyright, if you want to. So I created this page and also the Acceptable Use Policy for this web-site, which is included on this page below.

There is a clear copyright notice at the foot of every single page in this web-site, and there always has been. In accordance with international practice, it indicates the year I started work on the material and the year of my most recent work on it - this is automatically recorded by the computer, as I update the pages. As it happens, the copyright notice is nothing more than a reminder - the law protects my original work whether there is a notice on it or not.

Copyright protection means that other people are not allowed to pass this work off as theirs, and must respect my intellectual property rights. It is easy enough to understand that, surely? - if you didn't create something, you can't present it as if you did, not while the original author is still alive, and not within 70 years of the creation of the original piece of work.

For example, as I write this in the year 2001, I think there is a good argument (by virtue of the fact that there were no computers, internet, or whatever in 1931) for saying that anything which has been brought into existence in computer-readable format must automatically be protected by copyright, unless that copyright has clearly been disclaimed by its author. So, "Le trahison ne termine jamais" will be protected by copyright until at least 2071, and I don't have to do anything to stake a claim for that, except to point out that I have not disclaimed my copyright: I haven't! The same applies to any electronic image - even if it is an image of something which is itself not protected by copyright: if I take a picture in 2001, no matter what it is a picture of, you can't use it until 2071 without permission from me or someone authorised to speak for me. (If you really don't get that, then stare at the picture at the head of this page until you do get the point, because the point isn't going to go away.)

There are, of course, details to this.

For example, there is a thing called "fair use". If you want to comment on this web-site, to say how good or how bad it is, or what you think is wrong with it, or if you want to parody it, then you are permitted to cite excerpts from it in order to support your opinion. But that's the important thing: the work you are doing is substantially your own, anything you include of mine can be nothing more significant than supporting material. The whole point is that "fair use" permits valid and meaningful criticism; there are some people in the world who might choose not to permit their work to be used if they knew negative comments were going to be made about it: such an attitude would stifle criticism, which is why "fair use" exists. Nothing in this world is above criticism. (For what it's worth, I personally welcome constructive criticism; it's one way I can improve the standard of my work.)

The only exceptions to copyright that it is remotely safe to take for granted are as follows:

1. Work clearly identified (by some notice or other method) as being in the public domain.

2. Work created by someone who has been dead for a very long time. (And even in this case you'll have to do your own research in your own jurisdiction to see how to interpret this.)

There are other details too: explore the link at the foot of the page if you want to find out more about them.

What sorts of material are on display at this web-site?

(listed in descending order of frequency)

Category

Amount

Material I have created and in which I retain all relevant rights.

The overwhelming majority.

Material that the copyright owner(s) have given me specific personal permission to use.

Some of the photographs - every one clearly indicated individually.

Material that the copyright owner(s) have given a general permission to use in return for a licence fee. (Generally bundled in software that I have bought.)

A few pictures and some web page backgrounds. Some biblical and related texts.

Material that is in the public domain.

Very little indeed - a few animated graphics.

Material protected by copyright belonging to others that appears here in the category of "fair use"

Very little indeed - as it should be.

Material protected by copyright belonging to others that appears here without their permission and other than in the category of "fair use".

None. Zero. Nil. Zilch. (Unless I have been misinformed, in which case please contact me to correct the mistake.)

Of these categories, it is only the first one that I am in a position to give you any authorisation to use.

...and here's how you can use them

1) VIEWING AND PRINTING OUT THE CONTENTS OF THIS SITE

I am happy for you to view the content of this web site. If you like it sufficiently, you are welcome to print it out and keep the printed copy, but only for your personal use, not for redistribution in any form.

2) LINKING TO THIS SITE

I am happy for you to incorporate links to any page of my web-site in your work. (For technical reasons, you should not link to the graphics at my web site, or anyone else's either. "What are these technical reasons?" someone asked me. Well, first from my point of view - if you link to a graphic here then that uses my server's bandwidth, when really you should be using your own. Second, from your point of view, I might delete the file, or keep the name but change the content; either of those could change the look of your website without warning.)

3) LIMITS FOR REUSE OF ANY MATERIAL FROM THIS WEB SITE IN YOUR OWN WORK

If you want to use any part of my web-site in anything you are doing, then follow this plan:

a - "fair use") If and only if you are creating a piece of work which refers to this web-site in a context which falls within normally understood categories of "fair use" you are permitted, without further reference to me, to incorporate a maximum of five computer files (or extracts from files) from my website in any individual piece of your work, provided that such inclusions do not constitute more than 20% of the total of the relevant individual piece of your work (by any appropriate assessment).

b - other use) If you are hoping to use ANY of my text, graphics, or anything else at this web-site in your own work, then you must obtain my explicit consent for each individual item you want to use before you incorporate any of my work into yours. (I've never refused any courteous and legitimate request for the use of individual items before, so please do ask, but please note that I never grant any blanket permission to copy whole sections of my work: if you are building a web-site, then it's up to you to do your own research and development.)

c - miscellaneous) In connection with a and b above, it is important that you understand that the copyright with some of the items at my web site belongs with other people who have been kind enough to permit me the licence to use those items. I have no right to grant you permission to use those items. You must contact the original copyright owners for that, just like I had to. Such items are always indicated appropriately.

d) Under no circumstances whatever are you allowed to copy any of the content of this web-site (other than as defined at "a" above) with the intention of making financial or similar gain from doing so. Incorporating my work at any web-site that attempts to make a profit for the proprietor of that web-site will immediately and irrevocably void any permission that might have been granted to use my work. I want you to be very clear about this. I am not creating a web-site in order to make money for myself; therefore you should not derive any financial benefit from my work either. Specifically, you may not make money from the sale of my work. Equally specifically, you may not use my work to attract people to your web site so that you can make money out of them in some other way.

4) YOUR DUTIES TO THE AUTHOR OF THIS WEBSITE

What you must promise to do before I will consider giving you permission to use anything from this web-site in your work (and of course, therefore, what you must actually do if I do give permission!):

a - If your work is on the internet or equivalent electronically-based media, then there must be a hyperlink back to my web-site on each web-page or equivalent electronic document of yours that uses something from my web-site.

b - If your work is in printed form, then there must be a reference to the URL of the relevant part of my web site within the bibliography of each of your documents that uses information from my web-site.

c - You must certify that you will never attempt to make money from my work, and that my work will not be used to support indirectly any effort of any description on your part to make any money.

d - You must certify that your reuse of my work will not be in a form that could be considered offensive or pornographic, either in full or in part.

Finally, I think I've answered all the usual questions you might have, but if you cannot determine how to proceed from the information given above, then ask me.

All of this is in fact pretty standard stuff. Even if other web-sites don't spell it out like I have been forced to, you should still treat their authors with at least this much respect.

This policy for acceptable use is effective as from July 16, 2001 20:10:35 +0100 and supersedes all previous versions.
If you use, or want to use, something from this site under the terms of this policy, you are well-advised to make and keep a printed copy of this page.

NB: since there is a link to this information from every relevant page at my web-site, it is reasonable for me to assume that you are acquainted with these terms.

If, despite what is written here, you choose to use material from my web-site at yours without my permission, then you will not only be acting unethically, offending me, and breaking the law, but almost certainly contravening the Acceptable Use Policy of your own Internet Service Provider. The penalties will vary, depending on precisely what is done, but they are not trivial. You could lose your web-site, your money, or even your liberty.

Whenever I discover such misuse, my preferred option (because it is cheaper and quicker than using the law) is to report the matter immediately to the relevant ISP. ISP's realise they can be sued for breach of copyright and prosecuted for other offences, and they don't take chances. ISP's also co-operate with police and other law enforcement agencies.

SO, if you had been planning to take stuff from this web-site (or, let me remind you, any other web-site) without permission, to display at yours, think again...

...perhaps you might even want to consider this story of what actually happened in one case...

.. and then, having thought things over, set to work on making your own web-site the best it can possibly be, entirely by your own efforts. Then, not only will you be respecting the rights of others, but you'll earn some self-respect.

If I like your site, I may even include a link to it!

Those who know me well would confirm that I am the last person to start going on about rights. As I said at the beginning, it saddens me that I should even have to write this, but clearly some persons are very ready to violate the intellectual property rights of others.

If you want to know more, a good site is:

10 Big Myths about copyright explained by Brad Templeton

Note I am not a lawyer by profession. The position stated above is not intended to be (and in any event, the world is too complex for it to be) a definitive statement of copyright law and its consequences. Caveat utor.

This page is a part of Chris Tolley's web-site. Latest update: Monday, July 16, 2001 20:10
Links on my pages can point to other web-sites. If you find that the administrators of those web-sites have made changes which mean you can't access them, please let me know, so I can update or remove the links. As far as I know, none of my links point to sites likely to contain offensive material - but if you discover otherwise, please let me know, as I would like to remove such links from my pages.
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©1996 to 2001: Christopher J. Tolley