ACEO Copyright Secrets

Art Card and ACEO Copyright Information

If you make art cards, ACEO or art card collages, be aware of the following important information! Any individual can be sued for copyright violations when publishing artists cards without proper license agreements. Being aware of copyright laws will help individuals avoid a lawsuit when publishing pocket art.

Public domain is anything prior to 1922. After that, all copyright material including photos, books and music could be subject to the new "Sonny Bono law" that protects all works for 95 years. All photos and artwork, including artists cards, are copyright protected even 50 YEARS AFTER death of the holder. Don't publish ACEOs with corporate logos, or brand names, like Coca Cola or Hallmark. Brand names are fine for personal usage but as soon as you publish it in print, you have immediately infringed on copyright laws. Even published photographs of persons wearing corporate logos on clothing or gear when published for commercial use can be subject to copyright questions.

Individuals must also possess a basic model release for which any and all models involved in the photo have given permission to use their image.

Ask the following questions about your art cards:

• Is this item your original art card?
• Do you have public domain rights to the ACEO image being used?
• Are you the copyright owner?
• Do you have the license agreement for this item?

When in doubt, do your research. The internet offers a plethora of information regarding copyright laws. If answers are not found regarding your rights to an art card image, do not publish it. For more information regarding this topic visit www.artcardist.com.

Trading Art Cards vs. ACEO = ARTCARDIST

As an artist who produces art cards, it is interesting to find that there is a heated debate over these tiny fine art works. Art cards are for trading and ACEO's are produced to be bought and sold. There lies the only difference between the two. Each form of pocket art still must meet the requirement of 2.5 x 3.5 inches to either be traded or sold.
If you produce artwork and have joined the art card trend, you may be forced to take sides. Either be a trader of art cards or be a seller of ACEO . In the world of art cards there is no in between. I have actually been denied acceptance into forums because I had the audacity to suggest that I was looking for information on buying and selling art cards (to be p.c. I must say buying and selling ACEO). What I have ended up with at first is mass confusion. Unless you have done your homework, you may not know that an art card is intended for trade only and you submit yourself to being snubbed by many fine artists, many of whom you would like to trade cards with.
Don't choose a side! If you want to trade, TRADE! IF you want to sell, SELL! Consider yourself to be an ARTCARDIST.
An ARTCARDIST is an artist or crafts person who wants to produce cards with the intention to trade, buy and sell. They want to establish their reputation as an artist and communicate with other artists, so they trade. They also want to make a name for themselves and let the public be able to obtain fine art for a minimal price, so they produce cards to sell and buy. For those of you out there who wish to neither subscribe to being a trader only nor a buyer/seller only become an ARTCARDIST !
Visit my website www.artcardist.com for more information on trading, buying and selling fine art cards or ACEO.