Advertising 101: Copyrights and what it means for your ad

In our special series on advertising — we’ll be offering tips and tricks to help you get the most out of your advertising dollar, and answer questions that you’re sure to run across! If you’d like to ask me a specific question, drop me a line at dwshelton@businessclarksville.com.

In “Resolution,” we discussed pulling pictures off websites and why it’s generally not a good idea to do that because of the resolution of the images, and that it’s usually too low to be adequate for print purposes. Another, far more important factor looms over the horizon: copyright issues.

Now, since we’ve already attempted to dissuade our friends from using web images, there’s always a few that will insist that the resolution is perfectly fine for print use. With this in mind, the conscientious advertising representative will ask this question: do you have license to use that photo or artwork?

This isn’t meant to throw anyone off, but it IS meant to determine the permission and license of that particular piece. Pulling artwork or photos from internet websites is extraordinarily easy, so copyright concerns are rarely considered. The reality, though, is that they should be.

At this point, I need to submit a disclaimer (We have an agreement with our attorney – he doesn’t make magazines, and we don’t give legal advice). For all legal concerns, please consult a competent copyright attorney. Any information distributed in this article is meant to guide readers into making informed decisions regarding photography, ad copy, or artwork; and should never be substituted for qualified legal advice.

All right, that’s done.

Copyright law basics

Copyright law in the United States is a VERY serious thing. It’s been amended several times in the last thirty years, and some of those amendments cover internet publishing. Here’s the basics: copyright law is designed to be creator-friendly. Legally, anything that is written, photographed, drawn, painted, filmed, or otherwise created is copyrighted the moment it’s published in a tangible form. The official government list is:

• Literary works
• Musical works, including any accompanying words
• Dramatic works, including any accompanying music
• Pantomimes and choreographic works (that are written down)
• Pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
• Motion pictures and other audiovisual works
• Sound recordings
• Architectural works

That tangible form can be a bound book, a reproduced CD or DVD, published on a website, or even scribbled down on a paper napkin at your favorite diner. Copyrighting is usually confused with registration. In order for a document or created work to be registered, it must be filed with the US Copyright Office at www.copyright.gov.

Let’s be clear: Registration is NOT required in order to have the work copyrighted. So even if you never register it, it’s still protected by copyright law. The benefit of registration is that the creator will be able to refer to the registration date in order to challenge an infringement in court. If you don’t believe me, take it from the Copyright office itself:

Copyright is secured automatically when the work is created, and a work is “created” when it is fixed in a copy or phonorecord for the first time. “Copies” are material objects from which a work can be read or visually perceived either directly or with the aid of a machine or device, such as books, manuscripts, sheet music, film, videotape, or microfilm. “Phonorecords” are material objects embodying fixations of sounds (excluding, by statutory definition, motion picture soundtracks), such as cassette tapes, CDs, or vinyl disks. Thus, for example, a song (the “work”) can be fixed in sheet music (“copies”) or in phonograph disks (“phonorecords”), or both. If a work is prepared over a period of time, the part of the work that is fixed on a particular date constitutes the created work as of that date.

Put simply, when it’s created, it’s copyrighted. For a really fun explanation of the process, the copyright office has a nifty little animation (ideal for students and teachers).

Can you pull art from another website?

All of this should be considered when looking for art or ad copy. Most importantly, no matter what — if you didn’t create the photo, written copy, or logo, you MUST have permission to use it in your ad.

If you’re a franchise owner, then you already have license to corporate art, ad copy, and logos. This is one of the benefits of being a franchisee. So, there’s nothing to worry about there. Be careful, though, of using your own creation for your ad — they may have requirements that must be followed. Contact your franchise marketing office if you’re not sure.

If you’re advertising for an independent business, then you’ve got freedom to create whatever you want for your advertising — so long as you’re the one creating it. Let me be clear, though. NEVER use artwork or photography from others’ websites unless you have clear permission to do so. The simple reality is that you might be infringing on someone’s copyright if you do. To get permission, you should contact them directly. That permission should be in writing on their company letterhead.

Other options to getting professional quality art or photography

Okay, so you don’t want to go through that hassle. The good news is that you can get great art still! There are four ways to get good photography, art, or verbiage for your advertising needs. The best part is that they’re all relatively simple:

• Purchase royalty-free stock art. Corbis, Photodisc, iStockPhoto, Shutterstock, and Jupiter Images are the more popular stock photography houses. Keep in mind, though, that you’re not actually buying the full photo from them, you’re purchasing a license to USE their photo. The greater the license, the more the expense will be. Pricing ranges from $15 to around $300 for high-quality images. Visit any of their websites for more information. Keep in mind, though, that they offer different resolution sizes. Be sure to get the right size for your ad (see our tutorial on resolution if you’re not sure what we mean).

• Hire a professional photographer, illustrator, copywriter, and/or a graphic designer. In most cases, they’ll also be doing the work for a license fee. You’re not actually purchasing what they do unless they make it part of the arrangement. Most designers and photographers charge an extra fee to sign over the ownership of their work (this is standard practice). But, they’ll also license the usage of that piece to you as well. They’ll gladly explain the process to you, but it’s really not usually complex.

• Create the ad yourself. Okay, this one’s a no-brainer, but it requires a certain amount of skill. Unless you’ve had some experience and training in photography, design, or writing, then you might want to re-think this one… especially when you consider the next option.

• Have the publication create the ad for you. In most cases, they’ll write, design, and provide photography (either stock or custom) for your ad… for the price of your ad. If they have extra fees for this service, then it still might be worth considering. Most publications, though, don’t charge extra (Business Clarksville magazine, for example, includes all design fees in with the price of the ad). It’s usually an easy way to have a professionally designed ad that’s perfect for your business. In fact, they may already have just the perfect stock art for your ad!

Copyright law isn’t really that complex — and it benefits those who create the work. If you wrote the next great American novel, then you’ve got that level of protection for as long as you live and several years beyond. It’s a powerful way to protect what’s yours. Just keep in mind that it also applies to what isn’t yours! Remembering these key elements is essential to any printed work, and you’ll always know that there’s peace of mind when you follow certain steps to protect your work, and the work of others.

Next time, we’ll provide tips on copywriting (yes, it’s completely different than copyrighting).