Thread "Legality of things and such issues" in forum "Comic Talk and General Discussion *"

Posted at 11:05PM, May. 14, 2009

I'm wondering if there's any fine print i've missed. Does Drunk Duck assume any rights. or are they truly good samaritans.

Posted at 12:05AM, May. 15, 2009

DD and its parent company Platinum do not have any rights over the work you put up here. Simple as that. I wouldn't have my own work up here if that was the case. :)

And there's nothing "Samaritan" about the site either lol!
Allowing users to put up their own creations on a website free of charge gathers and maintains a community. This is good to generate revenue for advertising and to encourage other related businesses to deals with them based on their web presence.

Posted at 5:05AM, May. 15, 2009

This is covered in the FAQs.

Go to the News area and scroll to the bottom of the page. (It's FAQ No.21!)

Posted at 6:05AM, May. 15, 2009

Unless you sign a legal document that says otherwise, any artwork that you create and then post on the internet belongs to you and only you. This pertains to the physical artwork you scanned into the computer.

Intellectual property, on the other hand, is not necessarily yours. If you don't own a copyright on your series then that means anyone can publish a comic book with the same character without your permission. They can't use your artwork, but they can make their own.

A good example of this is The Beatles. Paul McCartney, Ringo Star, and the estates of Lennon and Harrison own the music of the Beatles. The actual recording tape belongs to them, and nobody can use the music on those tapes for any reason unless all four parties are okay with it.

The intellectual property rights, however, were famously bought in auction by Michael Jackson. That means that a company could use a cover version of a Beatles song in a commercial without getting permission from the band and their widows. They only have to go through Michael Jackson.

This explains that whenever you hear a Beatles tune in a car commercial or something it's never the original song. It's always a cover version.

Anyways, if you're concerned about intellectual property theft you should definitely file for a copyright. Your local town or city hall should have the paperwork for it. The process costs about forty dollars.