Read,
http://www.myartspace.com/blog/2009/05/interview-magazine-copyright.html

However, I was told that even if I invested money in it, and got a contract with a factory, there was no copyright protection or trademark protection for goods made of fabric. So, basically, I gave the idea away at this car show, because I wasn’t prepared to invest more money, hopes and time, and then be ripped off.

Goodness knows how much innovation is killed by piracy, or the prospect of it. Neal, have you any idea how enervating it is to start something, knowing before you start that your efforts will enrich thieves?

You won’t agree, I am sure, but when thievery is rampant, quality is lost. If an author has a great idea, she needs to get it into print as soon as possible.

If an author wishes to make a living, she needs to write a book every quarter. Some can do that, and maintain the highest possible standards of creativity, editing and literate excellence. Some cannot.

Fines need to be large enough to finance the enforcement, and enough left over to distribute to the content creators in the form of recompense.

Those who “consume” pirated material also must be penalized severely. A copyright-clean verification system needs to be put in place, so that citizens can be assured when they are downloading or purchasing legitimately.

Why are our governments not taking this issue more seriously?

Intellectual property is the engine of civilization.

But there are always people who are going to abuse the system. Ebay, as a system, is not the problem.

That’s a very broad, negative and stereotypical generalisation.

The reason you have not heard much from me in several months is the fact that we here at Imageline have been forced to spend practically 100% of our time chasing down the willful infringement of our graphic arts content online. There are hundreds, even thousands, of fearless, and aggressive, moles on our playing field.

I absolutely hate litigation (that activity, too, is the antithesis of the creative person’s body and soul), but we have concluded after many years of crying “please do not do this again, Mr. or Ms. Mole”, that severe financial consequences are the ONLY thing that moles, who have apparently been taught ’selective stealing’ is okay in their online lives, might relate to. The moles I have witnessed lately actually seem to enjoy telling their friends that they have been whacked on the head by few mallets these days.

We filed four (4) federal copyright infringement lawsuits in March and expect to exceed that number again in April and May. Now let’s see if the Obama administration and the new PRO-IP Act work well together with the Judiciary. For the first time in many years I think the momentum is starting to shift away from the moles (we still call them “pirates”). I sure wouldn’t want to be a young mole wannabee these days. These new mallets have sharp teeth!

To further illustrate your point, Imageline doubled the size of our original vector illustration and designs libraries last month with the acquisition of the Image Club Graphics archives from Getty Images that I told you about in January. Let’s hope this new “enforcement” plan allows us here at Imageline to be creative and get some of these new products and services online and available at a fair price, right where they should be, so everyone can enjoy them legally. Not gathering dust while we chase down these elusive moles.

Thanks for keeping everyone up to speed on this extremely important and serious issue. After too many years of neglect, we would definitely all begin to realize the decline of new original content available from the creative communities if the mole community continues to thrive. Anyone who claims otherwise probably has never produced anything original or creative in their lives.

Keep up the good work.

George Riddick
Imageline, Inc.