Basically, if a graphic or photograph has been copyrighted, we can’t use them in our siggies. Apart from breaking the copyright laws, it’s against the TOS of iVillage to use copyrighted images.
All photographs are automatically copyrighted at the time they are taken. However, some photographers choose to release the image for personal or commercial use. These photographers upload their work to stock image sites, where there are available either for free or for a fee. Remember to check the TOU for the site/photograph to be sure it's okay for use.
If you have any questions, feel free to ask in the Learning Lobby folder. We’re always happy to help.
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Copied from Annie’s original post (sassybeach).
Hey all, I found this on a board elsewhere: It was updated July of 2005 so some of it may have changed but it gives a pretty good idea of what to look out for:
1] House Mouse (They will sue)
2] Warner Brothers (They will sue) www2.warnerbros.com
3] Disney (They will sue) www.disney.go.com
4] Susan Boulet
5] Anne Geddes
6] Kathie Miller
7] Debra Morr
8] Cindi Markowski
9] Eve-Riser Roberts
10] Michael Johnson
11] Jonathan Meader
12] Renee Stockdale
13] Kirsten Weisenburger
14] Brenda Carter
15] Jeremy Paul
16] Alan Sakhavarz
17] Marg Hobson
18] Webshots Photo's
19] Merlin Tuttle
20] Schimmel
21] Amy Brown
22] Abbott, Meredith Brooks
23] Anders, Rob
24] Balke, Don
25] Barker, Cicely Mary
26] Bateman, Robert
27] Bell, Julie
28] Bellmond, Madeleine
29] Berger, Marian
30] Betty Boop
31] Botke, Jessica
32] Brack, Susan
33] Brown, Amy
34] Bruvel, Gil
35] Buck, Claude
36] Cherry, David A
37] Clough, Sandy
38] Cooper, Melinda
39] De Wolfe, Richard
40] Emanuel, Renee
41] Engelbreit, Mary
42] Ford, Jan
43] Frey, Daniel
44] Gatsfield, Gail
45] Gelsinger, Dona
46] Gruszka, Karen
47] Hanks, Steve
48] Hellmuth, Claudine
49] Herrero, Lowell
50] Holodook, Joseph
51] Hosta, Dar
52] Janesko
53] Kari, Morgan
54] Keathley, Mark
55] Kinkade, Thomas
56] Knott, Diane
57] Koch, Christine
58] Krixtyn
59] Kuck, Sandra
60] Kuntz, Roger
61] Liu, Lena
62] Maija
63] Mark Barker, Cicely
64] McCarthy, Maureen
65] McClure, Royce B
66] Monett, Diane
67] Morehead, Ruth (Actively sues!)
68] Nally, William B.
69] Parker, Lawton
70] Parkes, Michael
71] Parshall, Dewitt
72] Paulin
73] Perrin, Dennis
74] Plummer, Molly
75] Rich, John Hubbard
76] Rios, Susan
77] Sandzen, Birger
78] Schatz, Howard
79] Schurr, Jerry
80] Selen, Luc
81] Tadiello, Ed
82] Theophilus, Sarah
83] Toral, Stephanie
84] Torrey, Elliott
85] Tristram, Geoff
86] Tudor, Tasha
87] Vallejo, Boris
88] Vicky - iwant.com
89] Vitale, Raoul
90] Wesley, Roberta
91] Whelan, Michael
92] Whitaker, William
93] Williams, Gilbert
94] Williams, Sandra
95] Wine, Radford
96] Wood, Tom
NOTE: Warner Brothers - This includes (animaniacs, Batman (animated), Scooby Doo, Pokemon, Looneytoons, Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck, Elmer Fudd, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin The Martian, Road Runner, Speedy Gonzales, Tasmanian Devil, Tweety Bird, Wile E.Coyote, Pinky & The Brain, Superman (Animated), Harry Potter, Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Babyalon, Wizard Of Oz, The Matrix
NOTE: Disney - This includes - Beauty & The Beast, Toy Story, Little Mermaid, Lion King, 101 Dalmatians, 102 Dalmatians, Aladdin, Chip N Dale, Darkwing Duck, DuckTales, Donald Duck, Scrooges, Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Hewy, Duey, Lewie, etc... Anything Disney is NOT allowed
Amy Brown: http://www.amybrownart.com/siteinfo.asp#usage_policy
Anne Geddes: You may use her works but only for making a page about her. No siggies or tags, her terms of use are here:
http://www.annegeddes.com/indexpages.cfm?P=Z&U=Zusageguide.html
Cicely Mary Barker (flower fairy)
Looks like she is also a nono:http://www.geocities.com/Paris/Opera/6903/
MillanNet : http://www.millan.net/anims/giffar/faq.html#fifth
Betty Boop: http://www.bettyboop.com/
Disney: http://disney.go.com/legal/conditions_of_use.html
Dreamsicles: http://www.castart.com/disclaimer.asp ; (now owned by Willitts Designs, no comprehensive disclaimer was found on their site)
Flintstones:http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/gen/help/termsofuse.html
Garfield (Jim Davis): http://www.garfield.com/news/copyright.html
House-Mouse: http://www.house-mouse.com/html
Looney Toons: http://looneytunes.warnerbros.com/terms.html
M&Ms: http://www.mars.com/privacy/ld_english.asp
Mary Engelbreit:http://www.maryengelbreit.com/User/UseAgreement.htm
Paddington Bear: http://www.paddingtonbear.co.uk/
Peanuts:http://www.comics.com/comics/peanuts/info/terms_of_use.html
Pokemon any Nintendo: http://www.nintendo.com/copyright.jsp
Precious Moments: http://www.preciousmoments.com/password.asp
Strawberry Shortcake:http://www.americangreetings.com/legal.pd#top
Suzy Zoo: http://www.suzyszoo.com
Big list of no nos here:http://www.americangreetings.com/legal.pd#top
Ruth Moorehead: Add copy right info till told different by Ruth or Bill Morehead.
Winnie the Pooh: http://disney.go.com/legal/conditions_of_use.html
Hello Kitty: http://www.sanrio.com/main/sanrio_info/terms.html
SPORTS TEAMS:
http://www.nfl.com/help/terms
http://www.nhl.com/nhlhq/terms.html
http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/index.jsp (on the bottom of this page)
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Please note that this list is not all inclusive and there are others that are not allowed that were not listed. PLEASE be sure to check out the copyright information before you use it.
Also please be careful when visiting Tube sites, digiscrap sites, and brush sites, as some of them are in copyright violation, too.
