Copyright and Trademark
Could you describe the difference between trademark and copyright in non-legal terms?
Trademarks and copyright are both part of intellectual property law. While trademarks protect your brand and brand identity, copyrights protect original works of authorship that are actually fixed on a tangible medium such as stories, articles, architecture, choreography, etc.
Mariam Tsaturyan
How do you know if an image is trademarked or copyright protected?
Images are a work of authorship and as such it’s protected by copyright. Trademarks don’t protect images. Trademarks protect your brand and brand identity. The only time images will be protected under trademark is when the image starts identifying the brand (logo, or another secondary image).
Copyright protection attaches automatically from the moment the work exists. This means that a work of original authorship is protected under copyright, as long as it’s not just in your head or a mere idea.
Mariam Tsaturyan
Personal Use and Commercial Use
Next, I want to get into how to get the right to use a copyright protected image, so could you describe the difference between personal and commercial use license.
When an image has a registered copyright, they get wider protection and more damages in case of copyright infringement. Generally speaking, you’re not allowed to use a copyrighted image for personal or commercial purposes. You need the copyright owner’s permission. In some circumstances, your personal use can be attributed to “fair use”. However, this is decided on a case by case basis.
The difference between a personal license and a commercial license is that the personal one allows you to use it for your personal purposes. You can create whatever you want and use that image in it. The commercial license is for being able to sell that image. For this you would need a commercial license.
Mariam Tsaturyan
Personal Use
The only images that we can use for personal use image would be all of the licensed images in Cricut Design Space. Cricut has worked directly with the owners of those images and obtained the correct license for those images to be able to sell them to you, for personal use. If you are using an image from Cricut Design Space for personal use you are protected from infringement of any copyright law.
Commercial Use
How should a person go about obtaining a commercial use license?
The copyright owner of that image usually will sell a standard license and also a commercial one. You can choose which license you want to purchase at the time of purchase. The commercial one costs more than the standard license.
Mariam Tsaturyan
Since I am a huge Disney fan, I asked her specifically about Mickey and Minnie Mouse images. I dive deeper into the topic of Disney Cricut images in a post HERE, but in short, here is what Mariam has to say about my favorite mice.
Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse both are trademarks, aside from being copyrights. Trademark protection does not expire if renewed on time. I’ve seen a lot of people draw paintings or designs that include Mickey Mouse in them. This is an infringement. Disney is very protective of its trademarks and does pursue infringers all the time. The ears on the mouse are not protected, so if you just want to draw mouse ears, you can. However, the moment it starts to look like Mickey Mouse or Minnie Mouse, then you’re infringing a trademark.
Without obtaining a license from Walt Disney, no one has a right to reproduce or draw any images or create any designs with Mickey Mouse and offer for sale.
Mariam Tsaturyan
Copyright law and “inspired by” images
There is no clear cut answer to this. Every time you want to create or sell something, you need to ask yourself this question- “is the public or my audience going to think this is Mickey Mouse or Minnie Mouse?” in other words, are there going to be people who confuse your work and accept it as Mickey Mouse? If the answer is “yes”, then you’re infringing. Now, sometimes, you might think the answer is “no”, but remember, you’re not the body that decides these matters. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) or the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board (TTAB) might decide differently.
Mariam Tsaturyan
Altering Copyright Protected Images
There is no percentage amount for changing images or other trademark protected content. If someone looking at it might be confuse and think it’s the original work then it’s an infringement.
Mariam Tsaturyan
Gifting or Free
No, you cannot use a trademark protected image and put it on merchandise that you sell. The image is part of the item which you sell, there is no separating the two. These are “clever” workarounds that many people think they can get away with. However, strictly from the legal perspective, this is a trademark infringement and if discovered, they will be held accountable and fined.
Mariam Tsaturyan
Colors and Patterns
Additional Copyright Information
Here are some additional resources for specific areas of copyright law
4 Responses
This is really great info. How about if I upload my own personal designs to something like a cricut workspace, is my copyright completely protected or am I agreeing to certain terms that give them rights over my designs?
i am sorry i feel this way about it , but i feel that if you put an image online you know other people are going to copy it because it will sell so if you dont want people to copy your images why in the world would you put it online?
There are many images that are online, but are not free to use . . . think of every sports team logo or every animated character out there . . . there are products that legally have these images on them, that are out there for sale. Some crafters have figured out how to take those images for their own use.
It is good to remember there are thousands of “public domain” images that are not subject to copyright law for one reason or another. Also, common shapes, symbols, and other works are not subject to copyright. For more information on works free of copyright, see https://www.copyright.gov/circs/circ33.pdf