Notice
of Copyright
ALL WORKS OF ART DISPLAYED ON THIS SITE ARE COPYRIGHTED
A copyright is the right of an artist to prevent others from copying his creative
work. Copyright protects the form in which a creative idea is expressed. The
owner of copyright has the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to
do each of the following: reproduce the work by any means, including paper
copies, electronic copies, or otherwise; prepare derivative works based on
the original creative work; control distribution of copies of the work to
the public.
All of the artwork seen on this site is protected by United States and
international copyright laws. All rights are reserved by the artist.
WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU?
You cannot download, forward, save, retrieve, store or do anything else
with the artwork displayed on this site, except look at it, unless you have written permission to do so.
All materials on this site and linked sites are copyrighted intellectual
properties. Violators will be prosecuted to the extent of the law. Snagging,
stealing, right-clicking, downloading and otherwise taking images from
this site for any use whatsoever is strictly prohibited.
WHAT IS THE PENALTY FOR COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT?
The owner of a registered copyright can enforce his rights by bringing a civil
lawsuit in Federal District Court. In addition, the Federal government itself
can act. Criminal actions can be brought by the U.S. Attorney; and Customs
and Postal officials may seize and impound infringing articles that are being
imported. Recovery of attorneys' fees is possible if the suit is successful.
The penalties for infringement can be substantial. In civil actions brought
by the copyright owner, the court may order forfeiture and/or destruction
not only of all infringing articles, but also of any implements used to manufacture
the infringing articles. The court may even order seizure and impoundment
of such articles prior to trial, and in some cases, without prior notice to
the alleged infringer. In addition to obtaining an order stopping the infringement
and ordering destruction of infringing articles, the court can order payment
of any provable damages, including lost profits. The copyright owner can elect
to receive "statutory damages". The minimum amount of statutory damages that
can be awarded for copyright infringement is $750; and the maximum is $30,000.
If the infringement was willful, the potential statutory damage award is increased
to $150,000 for each act of infringement. In addition, attorneys' fees may
be awarded. In addition to civil penalties, copyright infringers can be prosecuted
under the federal criminal laws. All willful copyright infringement is a criminal
offense. The lowest penalty is conviction of a federal misdemeanor, with a
prison sentence of up to one year and a fine of up to $5000. More serious
penalties are levied against infringers who make multiple copies of a work,
or who copy expensive works. It is a felony, punishable by up to five years
in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 to willfully infringe copyrights of
others by making, during a 180-day period, ten or more copies of a work which
have a cumulative value of $2500 or more. Second and subsequent offenses carry
a prison term of up to ten years in addition to the fine. Companies which
willfully infringe can be assessed up to $500,000 in fines.