First of all it is "copyright" not "copywrite". Think about it. A © is the "right" to "copy" a work, not the "write of copy. Only a creator has rights towards their creation and what may be done to it or from it.
So for all the questions of "Is this ©?" in most cases YES! The question is generally not in regards to it being ? to someone, but instead what useage they allow.
A creation does not have to be registered to belong to someone. In fact many countries who participate in the Berne convention do not have a system in place for the registration of copyrights in their countries. This is why those items published in other countries may have a different copyright status and term than those published in the US.
Copyrights prevent derivative works.
This means that you may not take a painting, photograph or digital image and re-create it with another medium. You may not vector it, paint it, draw it, sketch it or sculpt it. You may not "copy" it in any manner.
Legal precedent:
Sculptor recreates a photograph of puppies without the permission or knowledge of the photographer. Courts declared the sculpture to be a derivitave work and all monies made and punitive damages went to the photographer.
Nor may you use the image as part of a montage or collage.
Legal Precedent:
A photographer recognised a pair of lips from a photo he had published in a magazine. The lips were part of a collage image done by another artist. The courts decreed the lips were indeed recognizable and found for the photographer.
Celebrity images may not be used!
A celebrities image is now trademarked. Courts have decreed that a celebrity is just that - a celebrity, due to the work and money they put forth to create their persona. This means that their likeness now falls under trademark laws and may not be used without permission.
Legal precedents:
Many! Particularly Alyssa Milano's mother who represents many stars and has won many court battled in regards to this. Not only the use of the faces and images but also the use of their names to create interest (even in meta tags).
Misconceptions:
If I haven't earned any money the creator won't be able to get anything.
This just is not true. Damages are not based on what an infringer earns but instead on what the creator would have earned - per copy. So if you have tubed an image and are caught the artist can subpoena your host companies records for you account. If the records show 150 downloads of that image then it would be considered that you distributed 150 copies - for which you may very well have to pay the creator for.
The creator is deceased so I can use it!
No you may not - there is 70 years after the creators passing, barring any renewal by their heirs for an additional 67 years.
It's not a registered copyright so they can't do anything to me.
Wrong again! It may be harder to collect for an unregistered creation - but it is not impossible.
Public Domain:
Very few contemporary creations are in the public domain. Creators just don't generally do so and in order for it to be public domain they have to release it as such, not registering a copyright does not = Public Domain.
Most items fall into the public domain due to missing the renewal time frame. Others are public domain because they were created prior to 1923. However, this went in affect in 1978 and at that time when the Berne convention was signed, other countries had a different time frame regarding copyright infringement. So in some countries an item that is Public Domain in the US is not in that country - and vice versa.
However, just because Michelangelo's paintings are public domain does not mean that you can scan a photo from a book or use an image on the web that portrays his work. The photographer of the paintings or the copier of the works holds the copyright to that version - it becomes "modified" and that version is no longer public domain.
Public Domain is not as cut & dry as many think it is. In general anything prior to 1923 is probably safe - unless it was owned by a corporation that may have renewed the copyrights for advertising.
(copied with permission from the writer MysticGlade, artist)
