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Copyrights on Digital Elements

Commercial Use of Digital Elements of Adobe Photoshop

I read an article on your site about Adobe Photoshop, and articles on computer art.

I'm trying to decide on how I would build an illustration library for my new card business without copyright infringement.

I stumbled across the Adobe site that has several designs I would like to use as back drops. It says that you can purchase a commercial agreement that would give you full rights, yet the artist has stated "purchasing a commercial license does NOT give you the right to redistribute or sell my brushes".

I am not quite sure what she means by this?

Are there any sites that will allow you to purchase and use their images to sell your products, for a fee and also give you rights?

Jacqueline

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Hi Jacqueline,

Aaay, the legalese is confounding to us layfolk, isn’t it?

What the Adobe site is saying about your rights when you purchase the brushes and agree to the commercial use terms is that you can use the brushes to create your own digital artwork but you may not sell or transfer the brushes themselves to anyone else.

In other words, you can use the brushes to paint or distress a photo or original drawing you have scanned and call that art your own. In this case, the brushes are another artist’s work which you cannot claim (and sell) as your own. Make sense?

As for sites which offer free or low cost images which you can use commercially, click this link.

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LOL ... (laughing out loud). Okay, bare with me, because the whole idea of brushes are new to me. So, the patterns from the brushes, combined with my artwork, can be sold as my illustration, but the brushes themselves cannot be?

Is this right?

Jacqueline

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Before I answer your question I want to share a laugh with you. I read your last note quickly and everything looked fine. When I reread it, I hesitated over “bare with me” and asked myself, “Is that right?”

I couldn’t remember, so I looked it up and found this clever book by Professor Paul Brians,Common Errors in English Usage. Here’s just part of what he had to say about “bear” vs. “bare”.

“‘Bear with me,’ the standard expression, is a request for forbearance or patience. ‘Bare with me’ would be an invitation to undress.” That will sure help me to remember next time. ROFLOL … (rolling on the floor …).

Now as for the digital brushes …

Based on what you told me, yes you got it.

Don’t assume that another artist or website would have similar terms of use. Always check and read them carefully.

If you have any doubt, you can usually find a way to contact the seller and ask a very specific question regarding how you want to use the brushes.

A while ago, I read about an artist with her own line of cards who got sued for copyright infringement.

She didn’t pay for the commercial licenses for the digital products used to create her cards and was caught in the act.

She may not have read the terms of use or maybe she thought that her work was so far removed from the original designs that no one could tell.

But believe me, a graphic design for a brush or font or whatever is like a fingerprint.

She was found guilty but let off with a slap on the wrist. However, she probably spent thousands defending herself; and, of course, her budding business was ruined.

So it’s always better to be safe rather than sorry.

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