NativeCelebs - Copyright notice

I've had some questions about using stuff on my site lately, so I guess I should make my position known:

Just because it's on the web, does not mean it's free to use. There is such a thing as copyright, and that means that the copyright holder can determine who gets to display the photos or text where.

A lot of the stuff I have here was collected from various sources. None of the photos are mine, in other words, the copyright belongs to someone else. However, in most cases I have been given permission to use the photos from the copyright holders, whether they be the actors themselves, their agents or the photographers.

The text is a bit trickier. I've often collected tidbits from very many sources, but let's say that the collection of it all is copyrighted to me. It represents hundreds of hours of work, and you are not permitted to swipe all that work and present it as your own.

For bits and pieces that you want, you should ask me. I've sometimes given things away and taken it off my site, but it's according to a plan - my plan.

In every case it would be right to ask permission before using any photo on anything apart from your own computer desktop or personal screensaver (of the type where you collect whatever photos you want to a directory). For printing out and hanging on your wall, I guess that is probably alright too.

If there's an e-mail address for the copyright holder readily available, you should send the same e-mail to both me and the copyright holder. There are cases where the copyright holder (and I, for that matter) would be delighted to grant permission to use a photo - even on the web, but that's our call, not yours.

I've also seen something else done on other fanpages. When one fan has scanned a photo he/she found in a magazine and sent it to the webmaster of the fansite, the webmaster has often put a copyright notice on that picture, saying it is copyrighted to the fan who scanned it. This is completely wrong!!! I've also seen other notices with text saying it is property of and other wordings. None of this is correct. You can say that so and so scanned it and credit the scanning as such. However, copyright has nothing to do with scanning.

One other thing I want to comment on. I've seen composites done by fans where the fan has said "all rights reserved". That is also wrong, unless the fan is also the photographer. If I did a shot with a Native celebrity (I am a photographer and have a pretty big portfolio of published photos) and then did a composite, with other photos I also did myself, then I could say it was copyrighted to me. I could probably also say all rights reserved, although I'm not sure what good that actually does. However, if I do a composite with photos done by other photographers, the copyright of the composite as such belongs to me, but the copyright on the photos still would belong to the photographer. I would list all the photographers of the different photos, and credit them, then I would also say that the composite as such was copyrighted to me. Can you see how that would look bad if you say "all rights reserved" when you yourself have no right to use the photos?

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Webmaster: My name is Annie. I'm not native, and therefore not an authority on native issues. I do make mistakes, so please correct me and help me make this a better site. NativeCelebs is about Native American Indians in the entertainment industry.
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