last updated:
This should explain why I've been forced to remove or render unreadable a number of images (especially dragon images) that were in my public archive.
Most commercial establishments would really rather not have you (or me, or anyone) putting copyrighted artwork up for public access. The usual argument is: "the fact that you're doing it for free makes no difference -- legally speaking, it's exactly as though you went to a publisher, and printed off 10-10,000 copies of it".
TSR©'s spin on things
I contacted TSR© and asked about the legality of the images I once had available on the ftp.nmt.edu site. If you want full details of the interchange, you can look at the letter I sent, and the response. After discovering TSR©'s web site (after much poor hunting), and their then-new web site (December 20th, 1996), I found a policy sheet describing TSR©'s Online Policies. This sheet detailed the policy on copied artwork, and clearly sates that such is not permitted to be posted anywhere. (now that TSR is owned by Wizards of the Coast, the policy has probably changed somewhat, but the core is the same: don't post anything anywhere without permission).
As a result, I have physically removed any artwork from TSR© from my ftp site. You may be able to find copies of this artwork at other sites, but be aware that those sites are in violation of TSR©'s copyright policy. Also let it be known that uploading scanned TSR© artwork to any site is a violation on the part of the individual as well. Note that TSR© owns Dragon©, Dungeon©, and Polyhedron© rights, so any images scanned from these mag's is similarly protected.
Personally, I wish this weren't the case, but it is, and I feel obliged to abide by their laws. So much for free advertising.
PS - maybe not all those © symbols aren't necessary, and some of them might technically need to be ® or TM, but it sure does get the point across, doesn't it?
I don't have any information about other companies. Quite likely, however, they all have the same policies. I rather suspect that this whole legal issue will change in the coming years -- it's downright impossible to enforce these copyright infringements when they are so numerous throughout the net. People have been given the power to publish mass quantities on their own, with worldwide distribution, at virtually no cost. When the rules of copyright infringement were created, this was not the case (even photocopies can be expensive, and don't have nearly the reach of the Web). Until that is changed, however, I cannot risk putting my provider site in danger of a sizable copyright infringement suit.
There is some hope. I have contributions from unknown sources, as well as a growing list of contributions from sources who've granted permission to distribute the art! I thus consider this abrupt removal of images from my site to be a 'temporary setback.'
Stay tuned....
For more information, check out a 10 big myths about copyrights page (not mine).
Also, a wonderful woman, friend, and artist, Mel. White, has some useful info on copyrights and the internet.