Love the pens, and also the copyright discussion! Very informative!
Just a question, how did you go about submitting for copyright? Just out of interest?
PHIL
You don't have to register something to have a copyright either. There's a million rules, loop holes, fine lines in copyrights. If you just draw a picture, free hand, maybe looking out the window, then it is cut and dry. You can photograph it with a date cam, stick it in a registered envelope, mail it to yourself and don't open it. Done. I have lots of unregistered copyrights. I send everything to the lawyer for evaluation. If he thinks it should be registered, he does. Otherwise, he just files it in his office, and that is unregistered copyright.
If you publish something, then that substantiates your copyright even further. But you give up some rights as well, but mostly to the publisher, not the public. By publishing, you give people the right to duplicate what you did, but not mass duplicate it. I want people to be able to do it, or use the ideas to make their own designs. I just don't want people mass producing my design ideas. You can't copyright a pen, you can't copyright a desk, but you can copyright design plans for a pen or a desk, if you feel it is worthwhile doing so.
I do know a guy that published artwork that he didn't actually make. This is where you have to figure out where that line is. People think that if I change a couple lines here, a few colors different there and now it's completely new. Wrong answer! This guy would take a persons painting or drawing, and load it into a computer program. the program would alter the image into what is known as a fretwork pattern. The fretwork pattern only resembles the likeness of the original, otherwise it is completely different, right? Wrong..that's a law suit where he got pummelled. If you were to take a dragon intarsia that I made, you grab the photo and load it into paint shop and do that funky thing where you stretch out the image all blurry and wild looking, then you put it on t-shirts. Then I will sue you for all the money on those t-shirts. You can't do that. My advice...if you think you have something you need to copyright, trademark, patent, whatever...contact a lawyer. When in doubt, call the lawyer. Heck, you guys got me questioning things with all this legal stuff that I'm not even so sure where the line would be on making a laser leaf pen. It might be ok, or might not be. Of course, if it's quite a bit different than mine, I doubt I'd care too much, but now I have to call my lawyer and ask about that.
I really hadn't intended for my pen post to be about copyrights. I just wanted to show off my leaves. When I made my post I was also working on a bunch of other design work, and it got me into the mode of paranoia. It happens to me every so often, and this site brings it on the most for me, because I see great things from people that end up in the wrong hands all to often. So I issued the warning, just in case one of those, you know who, people was watching.
Now I really just want to look at my pens some more. I'm very proud of them, and thankful for all your wonderful comments. They are even more spectacular in person. When I look at them, sometimes I can't believe I made that! I know that probably sounds weird. I am just particularly proud of these. A lot of my other pens seem to get old to me after awhile, but these never do. Like many things in life..some things you sell and you are happy, and some things you sell and you are sad to see it go.