Honestly, people don't worry enough about art theft. It runs rampant on Facebook. I see these "like" pages spam with various, beautiful pieces of art, however there's NO credit at all. I've seen many i was familiar with used on t-shirts without permission. And how about those Youtube videos? Friends of mine have confronted those people with permission issues, and they go on to give a long explanation of how it's okay for them to break copyright laws and steal that artwork, never giving credit.
The best way to protect your work is by adding a watermark. The only place I've seen anyone really do that is (sadly) deviantART. That's one of the few communities I've seen that offers a watermark for those who don't know how to do it themselves. It doesn't need to be big. It's just a signature, like on any other artwork from many ears ago. Just make sure it's in a spot that's important but can't be cropped or cloned out. That's where, "If they can steal it, they will" otherwise.
As for stealing "ideas," which isn't the same as stealing the ART, that can be stolen no matter what. The best you can do is contest it. If something is done similar, but not exact, to your work, they can still display that new piece of art.
sculptor/etcher wrote:Please read the basics on copy right protection. It's on the web. You shouldn't have to worry about people stealing your ideas. They will if they want to.
The poster is worried about art theft, not idea theft. Those are two different things. Stealing an idea would be overhearing someone's idea, and doing it before them. That can't be easily saved by basic copyright protection. That "creator's" copyright only goes so far, and doesn't cover like a registered copyright.
by Brucimus » Thu Apr 21, 2011 4:08 pm 
