1. It is illegal to photocopy any material under copyright, whether it is a single copy or multiples; for resale or personal use.

2. Purchasing a print makes it customer’s property only in the sense that the print can be framed or cut up for some craftwork. In some cases, artists will not allow their work to be altered in any way and many do not create art for open edition prints.

3. It should be obvious to a photo shop owner that an off-set print with the copyright information cut-off, has been produced by someone other than the person presenting it for copying. Any print with the copyright information removed, actually points out to the photocopy shop that someone may be trying to hide ownership. All publishing companies worldwide, show this information somewhere on their publications.

4.It is also not appropriate for the customer/crafter to remove the artist’s signature from the print. This occurs on some finished dimensional. The proper method is to leave the artist’s signature as it appears and attach a small brass nameplate to the front of the frame or a printed label to the back, showing the name of the person who produced the dimensional.

The term “Personal Use” does not sanction the copying of any material under copyright. Photocopy shops can reproduce a customer’s personal photo or an original piece of art painted by the customer, with their permission. In all other circumstances, the photocopy shop must request authorization in writing from the copyright holder before reproducing any published material. Books, manuals, catalogues, prints, calendars, or sets of instructions are few of the many items protected under separate copyrights.

In June 2005, the Supreme Court of the United States, ruled that file-sharing networks are liable for losses due to illegal downloading. According to an article appearing in the Toronto Daily Star, “Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc., Which led the lawsuit for publishers and artist groups, now feel that they now have stronger tools to protect their work from being copied without being compensated.”

Affordable technology has made plagiarizing all too easy. Be an activist. Encourage your customers and the business people you deal with, to protect the rights of the world’s creative community.