Intellectual property laws protect creative works like paintings, books, and inventions. Graphics can also be protected by copyright or trademark laws. Public domain graphics can be used freely, but using copyrighted graphics without permission can result in legal consequences.
Intellectual property is the area of law that deals with and protects creative works such as paintings, books, inventions and images. Graphics created by an individual may also be protected by intellectual copyright or trademark laws. Copyrighted or trademarked graphics may not be legally copied or used in any way without permission from the copyright or trademark owner. Public domain graphics, however, are graphics that are not legally protected by any intellectual property law and, therefore, may be copied or used without permission.
Intellectual property laws have been around since the 1700s. Just as the owner of real estate, or personal property, has a right to the use and benefit of the property, so does the owner of intellectual property. When a book is copyrighted or a registered design, no one may use or copy the property without prior permission from the owner.
With the advent of the digital age, a new form of intellectual property has arisen: graphics. While graphics have technically been around for ages, computers have made the creation of graphics far more common, which, in turn, has required many graphic artists to seek intellectual property protection for their work. Accordingly, unless a graphic is considered to be in the public domain graphic, it cannot be legally copied or used without prior permission from the owner.
The public domain is a term used to refer to anything that is available for use by the public or that is not privately owned. When used in conjunction with intellectual property, such as “public domain graphics,” it means that the work, idea, invention or design may be freely used or copied by the public. Sometimes, public domain graphics were created for public use, which means they were never protected by intellectual property laws. In other cases, public domain graphics may have been protected by intellectual property laws at one time, but the copyright or trademark is no longer active.
The importance of a graphic that is considered to be in the public domain to the average consumer is that they are free to copy and use the graphic for any purpose. Although many people copy and use graphics without first determining whether or not they are considered to be in the public domain, they are in fact violating an intellectual property law. If the owner of the graphics chooses to pursue litigation for copyright infringement or trademark infringement, the individual can face serious legal and financial consequences.
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