© 2013 Copyright. All rights reserved.

According to the U.S Copyright Office, copyright is a form of protection stated in the Constitution that gives the owner of the article or works complete ownership of it.

Examples of objects that can be copyrighted include 1) Books 2) Movies 3) Music

Fair Use: Fair use means it is possible to use copyrighted work for very few selected purposes. The reasons according to Stanford University are commenting upon, criticizing, or making a parody of the original works. Commenting and criticizing upon usually includes the public gaining benefits from your review or commentary.

One example would be a teacher or student copying a news article for use in the classroom, a lesson, or homework.

Shepard Fairey: Fairey is most known for making Obama's Hope poster. He said he wasn't aware of the image being owned by Associated Press after he proceeded to alter it for his poster. What got him in trouble was altering with evidence which inevitably led him to a $25,000 fine and probation. Fairey settled the Civil suit with Associated Press in 2011 agreeing upon $1.6 million.

The University of California defines Public Domain as objects or works that aren't eligible for copyright or copyrights that have expired.

An example of Public Domain would be U.S. Gov't Photos and Images.

Creative Commons as defined by http://creativecommons.org/about is a non-profit organization with the goal of enabling knowledge and creativity through free tools on the internet. Creative Common licenses don't replace copyright but allows for easier access and means of altering copyright to better suit your needs.

Halloween Make-Over before image, used with permission. Creative Commons.

Playing with Photoshop. Experimenting with Liquify, Dodge and Burn, and the Clone Stamp Tool.