Description:

JewelryLessons.com and EaZy Communities respect the intellectual property of others, and we expect our users to do the same. According to our Terms of Use, you must own the copyright to any material you post at JewelryLessons.com or be authorized by the copyright holder to post their material or product representation.


What is Copyright?

A copyright is set of exclusive legal rights given to the original author, which control the use and display of a particular expression of ideas. These rights give the owner of the copyright the exclusive right to: copy, distribute, prepare derivates, perform and display the work publicly.



How is copyrights acquired?

Copyright protection is acquired immediately upon creation of any work that is an original work of authorship and is fixed in a tangible medium of expression.
Here at JewelryLessons.com, there are three things which are copyright of their owners:
a) Text;
b) Images in photo or video;
c) Design.


What is a copyright infringement?

A copyright infringement is the unauthorized use of copyrighted material in a way that violates any of the owner’s exclusive rights, unless the alleged activity falls within one of the statutory exceptions. To prove infringement, the copyright owner must show ownership of the allegedly infringed work and that the alleged infringer violated one of the owner’s exclusive rights.

What is digital piracy?

Digital piracy is the illegal reproduction or distribution of digital content (i.e. text, images, video, music, software) which has not been authorized by the copyright holder. US Copyright law provides for severe civil and criminal penalties against infringers.
Users who are found soliciting or encouraging digital piracy will be warned and banned from this website; users who are found copying, selling or distributing content without authorization will be reported to the authorities and banned permanently from the website.


What is defamation?

Defamation is the communication of a false claim or statement of fact about another person to a third party that harms his or her reputation.
There are two types of defamation:
a) Written defamation, including things written on websites, blogs and message boards;
b) Slander, or spoken defamation.

Unless you are the RIGHTFUL OWNER OF THE COPYRIGHT of any content, then refrain from making any unfounded and unproven accusations -- be it public or private -- as these will be seen as slander and defamation.
We will not tolerate this inappropriate conduct or accusations from members, and will edit or remove PUBLIC comments and content as we see fit. This includes alleged accusations of copyright infringement, lack of adhering to our non-competitor clause, or rude behavior towards JL Admin, among others.

What are your DO’s and DON’Ts when posting and buying tutorials, images or text here?

Copyright applies not only to images and text, but also to the designs of our colleagues.

BEFORE CREATING OR BUYING A TUTORIAL OR ANY OTHER TYPE OF TEXT OR IMAGES, UNDERSTAND:
1) It’s NOT OK to copy or teach or create a tutorial or content based on another artist’s design without that artist’s authorization. Don’t use other people’s content without permission;
2) It is NOT OK to teach or create a tutorial or content on a piece you have seen in a book, magazine, a website, in a tutorial or even learned in a class without the artist’s strict permission;
3) It is ILLEGAL to do mass purchasing of tutorials with the intent of sharing with others; sharing the cost of downloaded tutorials with others whether they are members or not, or soliciting others to purchase tutorials that they have purchased;
4) Be careful with what you say about another person’s work, or you could be accused of defamation.

BOTTOM LINE:
Do NOT share tutorials.
Also, before creating a tutorial get permission from the original designer if the design is not yours. They may not want to teach or not be inclined to write a tutorial, so you could strike a collaborative deal together.

If you are in doubt as to who the original artist is, it is probably best to find a different project to work on.

What is ”Substantial Similarity”?

Sometimes artists create similar items or pieces inspired by other artists. If you plan to post a tutorial, an article or any other content, make sure it does not have “substantial similarity” with another piece that originally inspired you. To determine if a piece has substantial similarity, try this test:
Ask an unbiased, ordinary observer (a person who is not familiar or exposed often to jewelry design) if they could recognize one piece as being appropriated from the original.
Simply changing the construction or the color of a bead is often not enough. If both pieces look similar to an ordinary observer, then they are too similar – do not proceed.
To fall under the category of “Substantial Similarity”, a piece must be considered in its entirety. Certain individual elements of design are considered “public domain” for their generic nature. Therefore, certain elements or techniques do not fall under the scope of Substantial Similarity.

How does JewelryLessons.com approve major content?

We respect copyright law enormously. However, it is BEYOND OUR ABILITY to judge who is the rightful owner of the copyright of major content such as tutorials, articles, designs, etc. We will approve ALL MAJOR CONTENT regardless, until proof of infringement is presented properly.

It is the responsibility of each poster to make sure the content is accurate, correct and does not infringe on another’s rights.

What can JewelryLessons.com do if there is a possible infringement?

If you are the rightful owner of the copyright: If you are the rightful owner of the copyright of text, images or design and feel your rights have been infringed, then follow the procedure below to request a formal “take down”. We will remove the the content immediately.

If are NOT the rightful owner of the copyright: if you have UNDENIABLE proof that copyright of another has been infringed, but are NOT the owner of copyright, then submit your evidence to us privately via postal mail.

As a courtesy, we will also notify the artist that there is a possible infringement. Most artists will gladly clarify the issue or remove offending material immediately.

UNDERSTAND: UNDER U.S. LAW, WE ARE NOT REQUIRED TO REMOVE ANY CONTENT BEFORE A FORMAL TAKE-DOWN PROCEDURE IS ISSUED BY THE RIGHTFUL OWNER OF THE COPYRIGHT.

If you are not ready to provide irrefutable proof, then REFRAIN from posting unfounded accusations, since these could constitute defamation and slander.

What can you do if you think YOUR rights have been violated?

If you believe that a JewelryLessons.com user has posted a copy of your work in a way that is infringing your right, or your intellectual property rights have been otherwise violated, the first step is to immediately and properly notify JewelryLessons.com by regular postal mail: this it the “Take Down procedure, in accordance to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

If the claim is submitted by the rightful owner of the copyright OR an authorized representative, we will disable the content immediately upon receiving the following:
a) Your contact information: address, phone, email;
b) Identification of the copyrighted work which you claim has been infringed, with as much information about it as you can;
c) The location of the copyrighted work which you claim has been infringed;
d) Identification of the material which you claim is infringing and which should be removed. Also sufficient information for JL to locate the material;
e) A PHYSICALLY SIGNED statement that you have good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
f) A PHYSICALLY SIGNED statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are the owner of the copyright or are authorized to act on behalf of the owner.

Send all information to our designated agent:
JewelryLessons.com - Notice of Copyright c/o Eni Oken
200 S. Barrington Ave.
PO Box 491393
Los Angeles, CA 90049

Upon receiving your information we will remove the content and inform the original content poster.

If you believe that someone has copied your material and posted on another site, then we recommend you contact the poster and ask them to remove it. If they do not comply, then you can contact the hosting service or website where the material is posted and follow similar procedure for take down (contact each website first to know their exact procedure and address).

What can you do if your content has been wrongly accused of infringement?

If JewelryLessons.com notifies you of a Take Down and removes your content, you can send us a Counter Notification to attempt to restore the content: “Put Back Procedure” (also in accordance to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
Send us the following information, IN WRITING, VIA POSTAL MAIL ONLY:
a) All your contact information including address, phone and email;
b) A description and exact location of the content which we have removed;
c) A PHYSICALLY SIGNED statement with all your information, stating under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief that the content was removed or disabled as a result of a mistake or misidentification of the material that was removed or disabled;
d) A PHYSICALLY SIGNED statement with all your information stating that you consent to the jurisdiction of Federal District Court for the judicial district in which your address is located, (or if you are outside of the United States, for the judicial district of Los Angeles County) and that you will accept service of process from the person who provided notification under subsection (c)(1)(C) or an agent of such person.

Send this information by mail to our designated agent, using the same address as above.

Upon receiving your information we will notify the original claimant. The original claimant will then have 10 to 14 days to file for legal action, or at the end of this term we will restore the original content (Put back procedure).

Can I send the statements via email?

Although email is a perfectly legal and accepted form of communication for most issues, you must send in a SIGNED statement to make a copyright or counter-notice claim, therefore we will not accept plain email.

What is JewelryLessons.com’s role if there is an infringement?

Since we act as a clearinghouse only, the only remedy we can offer in the case of a suspected infringement is to remove the content from the site immediately, until the case is resolved.

All participants and members of this site who post content have vouched and agreed they are the owners of their respective copyrights. In order to participate of this site, each and every member has agreed to our Terms of Use during registration and again when posting content for sale.

Our terms of use specify that in case of any infringement including copyrights violation, the member has broken their agreement with us, and is therefore liable for all damages and incurred costs which might come from those infringements.
Please refer to The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which was enacted in 1998 as part of the U.S. Federal Copyright Law. This Act amended chapter 5 to add section 512 entitled “Limitations on liability relating to material online.” http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html#512 (see subsection C: Information Residing on Systems or Networks at Direction of Users).

These limitations protect Online Service Providers (OSP) including JewelryLessons.com, from any liability on copyright infringement caused by content contributors. This means that users posting content here at our site are completely responsible and liable for all damages caused by any infringements.

Furthermore, JewelryLessons.com’s only obligations are:
1) Take down: To remove the questionable content as soon as notified by a VALID claimant – the owner of the copyright – in the appropriate format as specified above;
2) To provide information on the suspected infringer and the suspected content to the copyright owner claimant.
3) Put back: To restore the content to our site if the original poster sends us the proper “Counter Notification” and the claimant does not enter a lawsuit within 14 days.

In summary, our only obligation is to remove or restore content.

Final notices:

Beware of well intentioned but misinformed persons who could be mistaken about Copyright Law and also historic evidence. Patents expire in 20 years and most work published before 1963 is now in public domain. For more information, visit Cornell University: Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States - 1 January 2010

WE APPRECIATE IT THAT YOU CARE: RESPECT YOUR COLLEAGUES’ WORK!

For further consultation, check out these links: SaperLaw: Daliah’s SocDevCamp Powerpoint Presentation Available Online
Copyright Law: Digital Millennium Copyright Act

Trademarks

JewelryLessonsTM, ClayLessonsTM, JewelryLessons.comTM, ClayLessons.comTM, Eazy CommunitiesTM, and Eni Oken DesignsTM are trademarks of Eni Oken Designs, Inc. in the United States and in/or other countries.

Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, Adobe Premiere, After Effects, FrameMaker, PageMaker, Photoshop and PostScript are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.

All other trademarks, trade names or company names referenced herein are used for identification purposes only and are the property of their respective owners.