When an artist creates anything, they like to believe they own that creation. Copyrights have been a tangle of laws and history that can confuse the layman. First, let me say what led to this blog post. I was talking to a very talented artist, Annie Hobbs, found at: anniehobbs.carbonmade.com. (Disclaimer, she is my sister-in-law, but that does not detract from her talent.) We were discussing the use of a watermark on images in a blog. I prefer to stay away from them, more for cosmetic reasons, but understand why people use them. I then decided to check on one of my more popular images, the egyptian iphone paper I have in my downloads section. Sure enough, I found another person who had stolen the image, but this time it was posted on the Photobucket site. I reported it to photobucket and was wondering if it was going to be a long drawn out process. However, five minutes later I received and email from Photobucket and sure enough they took down the image.

I remember when I was kid, The Simpsons was a big thing, although it still does remain a strong show. A school used the likeness of Bart Simpson for some dance or some thing, and FOX put a Cease and Desist on it. Ignorant people came out of the wood works decrying this move by FOX. Granted, I don’t like a lot of things FOX does (especially in the realms of it’s “political coverage”), but I know why they did that. Truth is, if they didn’t enforce their copyright even once, the courts would later state that they had released their copyright and then anyone could use a simpsons likeness.

As it stands the law has a time limit on how long the copyright owner owns their works, and that law keeps getting extended since Disney has a lot of lawyers arguing for more time as they have a lot to lose when Mickey Mouse becomes public domain.

This is just an introduction to the topic, and I highly recommend all artists and designers to learn more on copyrights.

So, this started off with a simple tweet. @mike9r was telling the world about a great resource he found. Someone had spent hours sifting thru logos and posted about their favorite 50 logos on their site. Mind you, a site that was seeking people to advertise on their site. Well, another designer was curious. Since it sounded alot like their post. And gee, wouldn’t you know it was EXACT!! This is where I got involved, I saw @adellecharles post about how it was her post. This kind of gnawed at me. I even twittered out to avoid the website. So, after watching a surprising episode of LOST, no I won’t spoil the surprise for you, I did a bit of digging.

delimitdesign.com has stolen a few other articles:

“35+ Excellent Social Media Tools That Make Life Easier” was posted on the thief’s site November 19, 2008. Yet, freelancefolder did the same write up just 5 days before. Jest Staffel even dugg the article. I also noticed he dugg the original article that got me involved in this investigation.

Original of 50+ Kick Ass Logos was on Fuel Your Creativity, and stolen here.

50 Websites For Free Vector Images Download was originally done on Hongkiat and stolen here.

He even had the audacity to rip off Smashing Magazine with 100 Excellent WordPress Themes, with the stolen page here.

I think we need to get the word out on this sham artist, and make sure if you catch someone, get the word out. I procrastinate very much on this blog, I admit. It’s because it takes a lot of hard work to pump out quality blogs, especially for fellow designers. If you are inspired or something, post a link. But you NEVER TAKE CREDIT FOR WORK YOU DID NOT DO!!

Okay, this isn’t really design-orientated, however it is something that I thought I’d blog about.

Twitter, some call it a mini-blog, some call it asinine. But I like it. Not just for the fact that I feel I can be more social with it than other social sites, but because I’ve found it very helpful. First, when I learned about MySpace, I wasn’t so sure about it. My friends started telling me how cool it was because it had games and such. So, I went on it and I enjoyed the experience of finding friends I had lost contact with. I remember how I thought through Classmates.com, I’d be able to find old college chums, but they started charging before I really reconnected with anyone. With MySpace, I was also able to keep in touch with old co-workers and such. Then Facebook opened up for those of us without “approved” connection emails. I was able to find all types of friends and family who I had lost touch with. I even found some old army buddies I hadn’t seen in over a decade. The problem with these sites was that I am reluctant on adding people I don’t know. I ended up making an art only page on MySpace, and a fan page on Facebook to allow for strangers.

But, with Twitter, I add people who I feel could add some type of conversation or connection with all the time. I have found other graphic designers and even politicians. In fact, a certain Texas senator has responded to some of my questions. I have had people on Twitter offer help during my current crisis of being unemployed, even some in other cities.

The other aspect of twitter, other than networking, is news. I have few people I follow, such as NASA and CNN, who keep me up on quick 140 character news bites.

And finally, by having the twitter badges on your blog or site, you allow for an opportunity to add more meta keywords to possibly add some SEO power to your site. When I was at DGWB, I remember learning how much traffic a blog can bring to your site. I see Twitter as a tool that does a bit of the same.

So, that’s pretty much in a nutshell what I use twitter for and why. What’s your excuse for using or even not using. add a comment.