• FreeAdvice has a new Terms of Service and Privacy Policy, effective May 25, 2018.
    By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our Terms of Service and use of cookies.

utilizing "royalty-free" clip art

Accident - Bankruptcy - Criminal Law / DUI - Business - Consumer - Employment - Family - Immigration - Real Estate - Tax - Traffic - Wills   Please click a topic or scroll down for more.

T

TerriLea

Guest
What is the name of your state?What is the name of your state?NY

I am starting a business that is utilizing clip art that I purchased in book and CD form. The license agreement on the website for the company is different from the license agreement in the book that I purchased. I am assuming they updated it.
The web license agreement is here: http://www.novadevelopment.com/Company/License_End_User.aspx

From what I can tell the part that pertains to my problem is #5. - 7.

In the book I purchased # 5 is totally different from the web's version:
Book #5. Use of Images; Distribution. You may modify, publish and distribute the clip art, photographs and other content in print; create presentations which incorporate the images; and use the images in developing pages for the World Wide Web and Intranet systems; all provided you are not marketing any of these works as clip art, photographs or other content. In no case may you distribute any of the files in the Software by any other electronic means, including without limitation distributing the images on disk or CD-ROM. In no case may the files or printed images be rented, lent or sublicensed.

The product I am creating is similar to this companies product: http://www.kidstar.com/Pages/holidaybrochure.htm
The similiarity is the clip art use and the customizing the “work” with another business’s name for their marketing use.

1. Can I use the clip art in the same manner? Using it in my own “work” with other ideas of my own, then selling it as a marketing tool to other businesses. EXAMPLE: Kidstar uses the clip art to make a menu for restaurants. They put the clip art on their “work” and sell their work to the restaurants. They then offer to put the restaurant’s name and other information on the menu for marketing purposes. Since the restaurant is not reselling the menu, but just using it, does that keep them safe from the “rented, lent or sublicensed” portion of the license agreement?
2. Do I put a copyright on my “work” with my business name, not including the clip art company?
3. Is the license agreement on the website the same as the one in the book, just more confusing? Does it matter in my case?
4. I have found MANY more clip art websites with the same clip art. They have all claimed it to be “royalty-free”, but they all have different license agreement. Do I have to follow them all? Or just the one I purchased?
5. What are the chances, since all these other companies have the same clip art, that the clip art is from the public domain? If so, does that mean I can do what I want with it, as long as it’s not in a “sell as clip art” form?

Thank you for your time,
Terri Lea
 


divgradcurl

Senior Member
1. Can I use the clip art in the same manner? Using it in my own “work” with other ideas of my own, then selling it as a marketing tool to other businesses. EXAMPLE: Kidstar uses the clip art to make a menu for restaurants. They put the clip art on their “work” and sell their work to the restaurants. They then offer to put the restaurant’s name and other information on the menu for marketing purposes. Since the restaurant is not reselling the menu, but just using it, does that keep them safe from the “rented, lent or sublicensed” portion of the license agreement?
It seems like they just want you to not resell the clip art itself. If you embed the clip art in your own material in such a way that the end user cannot simply take the clip art back out and reuse it, that's probbly within the scope of the license. You could run your idea past the clip art company and see what they say, or past your own attorney, that would give you the most correct answer. But based on what you have posted, you are probably okay.

2. Do I put a copyright on my “work” with my business name, not including the clip art company?
If you want. A copyright notice is not required for copyright protection, but you can add it in if you want -- it can't hurt. You may want to note that the clip art company holds the copyrights to certain images, but there is no obligation to do so unless their license agreement requires it.

3. Is the license agreement on the website the same as the one in the book, just more confusing? Does it matter in my case?
I don't think anyone here is going to spend the time to read and compare the two agreements for you. Based on what you have posted, you are probably okay. If you want a more concrete answer, you should contact an attorney who can review ALL of the agreements or contact that the clip art company and obtain express written confirmation that what you are doing is okay.

4. I have found MANY more clip art websites with the same clip art. They have all claimed it to be “royalty-free”, but they all have different license agreement. Do I have to follow them all? Or just the one I purchased?
The one you purchased.

5. What are the chances, since all these other companies have the same clip art, that the clip art is from the public domain?
Who knows. The only way you can be certain something is in the public domain is it was first published before 1923, or if it was created by the federal government. Otherwise, you never know. You could try and do a search, but it is almost certainly less onerous to simply comply with the licensing agreement...
 

Find the Right Lawyer for Your Legal Issue!

Fast, Free, and Confidential
data-ad-format="auto">
Top