Stitches

Help with digitizing an embroidery photo...Copy rights? DONT answer if you dont know.?

If I use a photo that is publicly available and digitize it into an embroidery file (I have the software to do this), is it violating copy rights? As an example, if I were to find a clip art of Barney on the internet and digitize that....thanks PLEASE do not guess at this. Do not answer if you do not know for sure. Just because you THINK something might not be OK, doesnt mean it is not.

Public Comments

1. Depends on the laws of the country you're in, but in the US, the answer is, yes, this would be a copyright violation. Get permission from the owner or find something that isn't under copyright. .http://www.copyright.gov/
2. If the clip art is of Barney the dinosaur and not Barney Frank you cannot digitized it, use it or sell it. BTD is copyrighted no matter where you find the image. There are bootleggers outside the US who do this. Some are caught and punished and some slip by. There is a letter at Cactus Punch Embroidery from a couple in Canada who got into trouble with the authorities over copyright infringement - so it can reach out past US boundries.
3. You can not duplicate any copyright or trademark logo without the owners permission. If you think your lawyers are better then some large company, go for it! (just kidding!) I would suggest not doing this unless you like big fines and/or jailtime.