Yesterday was yet another sad day for yet another wonderful artist. The fabulously talented Rachael Taylor was the victim of another lazy copycat. You can see her full post on the situation on her blog. Rachael is based out of the UK, so I am not sure how it works there. However speaking for the US crowd, you MUST copyright your work! By copyright I don't mean mail yourself the art or however that tale goes. I mean officially register your work with the US copyright office! This is absolutely mandatory if you truly want to protect yourself and your art. It really is not nearly as daunting as it may seem...keep scrolling!
[caption id="attachment_2058" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Rachael's print on her own cushions"]
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[caption id="attachment_2058" align="aligncenter" width="320" caption="Rachael's print on her own cushions"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_2059" align="aligncenter" width="314" caption="Rachael's print on lamps for seascape.com"]
[/caption][caption id="attachment_2057" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Rachael's print copied w/o permission on shutterstock.com"]
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For only $35 you could copyright your entire catalog at one time! Last time I checked rates for lawyers are just a tad bit higher...just sayin' :) The best part is you can do it all online. Bet you didn't know it was going to be that easy! See there is really no good excuse for you NOT to be doing this. You will get immediate confirmation from the copyright office. Then a few weeks later, you get this very official document. Pretty cool right. The whole process will take you less than an hour once you get the hang of their online uploading system. Run to copyright.gov today and make it official! You will sleep easier tonight - promise!Anyone outside of the US have any tips on how things work in your neck of the woods? Let's hear it!
