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**Downloading Pictures**

 * Copyrighted Images**

When an image is copyrighted it means that the company or person who copyrighted it can use the original work of art on their products and the image can be printed. It's illegal for anyone to take or use these images for personal or public use without the permission of the author. To know that something is copyrighted the image has a C with a circle around it. For example if symbol was copyrighted on a shirt and it was sold and distributed by the company. That same symbol can't be used on another product or shirt for something different.

Legal ramifications can be made copyrighted images. Recently Juicy Couture, a known name in the fashion industry around the world, was sued due to a copyrighted image. The label contained an image of "P&G" which stood for Pamela and Gela the creators and designers of Juicy Couture. However, Proctor and Gamble sued them. The lawsuit was against the designers for using a copyrighted image of "P&G" on their labels, the same "P&G" that Proctor and Gamble uses on their products. In the end Juicy Couture changed their label to "G&P" and Proctor and Gamble dropped their lawsuit. This is a great example of copyrighted images being the source behind lawsuits of large companies like Juicy Couture.


 * Taking pictures off the Web without violating copyright laws**

Know that you understand what the difference is between copyrighted and non copyrighted images how can you get images without violating these laws? There are many options in getting images without violating copyright laws. These will help you in the long run so that you are not violating any laws. The options include contacting the author, using images under public domain, or using creative commons.

Contacting the author. If you see an image you would like to use and it has been copyrighted you can always contact the author to ask permission; however, this is not always the easiest thing to do since sometimes an image doesn't state the author. Another option is to use images under public domain, these images were once copyrighted images but the copyright expired and hadn't been renewed so that it is free to the public, who can use it in anyway you want. Or there is an easier way you can use creative commons. Creative commons licenses works that have been copyrighted and allows the public to use these works for non-commercial use.

Sources: http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=Creative+Commons&i=40468,00.asp http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/faq-fairuse.html http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/Juicy-Couture-For-Juicy-Fashion/384447 Pictures: http://search.creativecommons.org/?q=copyrighted+symbol&sourceid=Mozilla-search