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Lesson 1
When in doubt, just say no (yes, I'm borrowing this from Nancy Reagan, lol).
Repeat after me: When in doubt, just say no. No what? No right click, save
as (at least for us PC users, lol). "But it's cute/pretty/etc.!" Tough
cookies - if you're not sure, don't use it. Always look around for a Terms
of Use - it may be right on the page, it may be a link to another page, it
may be under "About" or "FAQ" (perhaps others have some ideas of where to
look).
What follows are a few "red flags" that you should look for when determining
whether or not to use the graphics provided by a website/group:
If there's a
statement that says "found on the net" or "found free for use." Very little is actually "free" to use and, what is, is certainly not to be offered for download elsewhere. I don't care if it's a sig with your name on it - if it
wasn't made for you, don't use it!
If you notice
easily recognizable graphics such as Looney Tunes or Disney or something you see on greeting cards - most of these are big copyright no-no's!
If you notice
that the graphics being offered or posted are a hodge-podge of different watermarks - for example, below is something I made so you should only see it being offered by
me:
Others may use it to decorate their posts or pages (that's what I made it for) but they cannot offer it for download.
If you notice
one or more of the above and see "if you find anything that belongs to you, just let us know and we'll remove it." While there are certain circumstances where it's advisable to use a statement like that, a group/site offering graphicsfor you to download really shouldn't be one of them.
If they are
trying to employ the "Fair Use Act" &/or have a disclaimer - there will be more on this later, just something to keep in mind.
So, what did we learn here? When in doubt, just say no; there is little actually "free for use"; people can not offer things they did not make; if it wasn't made for you, don not use it (even if it's a sig that happens to have your name on it); and you can not hide behind disclaimers or the Fair Use Act. Please keep in mind all of this does not just hold for siggys, snags and tags - it goes for background, buttons, dividers (ie. page graphics) as well as fonts, too.
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Lesson 1
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Lesson 2
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Lesson 3
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Lesson 4
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Lesson 5
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Lesson 6
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SGS Quiz
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School house tut from Country Scraps, and apple tut from MidnightPSP.
Webset created with Jasc Paint Shop Pro
HTML code and graphics by ~Bel~
©2003 L. Reark, all rights reserved
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