Legal dilemma; "I certify that I created this artwork"

[AustrAlien2010]

This may either be a very complicated or a very simple dilemma, and I hate to bother you with it, but:

If I make and save a file from the wallpaper image that's attached to my Steam trading card, and upload the file as an artwork on this Steam profile, checking the checkbox which says: "I certify that I created this artwork" could that be cause for a legit report of this artwork or it´s removal from the game´s artwork hub?

Would I be allowed to send this file to another if it is not?


Thanks in advance to anyone who understands this dilemma, or agrees to share insight on it.

[Forcen]

Ask the company that made the trading card art and see what they think.

[Chompman]

It can depend on how much you modify the original artwork or have their permission but usually you cannot claim someone else's creation like that.

[mimizukari]

Steam is a commercial platform, you can't upload other people's artworks without their permission.

https://support.steampowered.com/kb_article.php?ref=4506-DGHX-5190
The artwork you post must be your own creation. Do not post the work of other people. Instead, please encourage them to post it.

[ReBoot]

Dont upload stuff thats not yours, thats not complicated at all.

[just.nuke.em]

Originally posted by ReBoot:

thats not complicated at all.

And yet it happens all the time.

OP, just do it. There is not "legal" issue here. No one has ever gotten sued for uploading artwork on steam that isn't theirs. Worst case, Valves gets sued or the artwork gets taken down.

You guys are making it too complicated.

[ReBoot]

Theft also happens all the time, that doesnt make it legal. Stealing someone elses work claiming its yours is immoral but even if your conscience doesnt give a toot about morality, people come ranting about artwork taken down to the forum every now and then.

[Lunacy]

Most people do it the showcase gimicks to match their background, people do it all the time and don't give a second thought about the ownership. Since you're private it won't really matter you aren't going to get some random troll that comes by reporting profiles and their contents.

[Lukeman]

If you're going to upload it anyway, upload it as "non-game specific" that way it will only be uploaded to your profile instead of the game's hub.

[僕の名前 (仮)]

If you have honor honor in 2018? you wouldn't upload artwork that isnt yours (or if you didnt hired/asked someone to make art for you)

I think it's ok to upload these artowrks to match background. It's just part of profile design. When they added i certify that artowk my, they didnt think ppl going to make these.

[Γαῖα]

Fair use, end of story.

[Black Blade]

I think if you put something on top of it, like some do with words it will be fine as in the end that is a pretty big change on the art as its cut and put the words giving it a completely new meaning

If you really want to be sure you can ask the company that made it, but over all I don't think there will be an issue for most of them so there unlikely to copyright on something like that

That is as long as its a background that they made for Steam so it's really for it
Same like many games are shown on YouTube, its not always written agreement, but very few sue someone for it (But as seen with companies like Nintendo you can get sued for it (or am I confusing some outher company?))

[Darren]

Originally posted by Black Blade:

I think if you put something on top of it, like some do with words it will be fine as in the end that is a pretty big change on the art as its cut and put the words giving it a completely new meaning

If you really want to be sure you can ask the company that made it, but over all I don't think there will be an issue for most of them so there unlikely to copyright on something like that

That is as long as its a background that they made for Steam so it's really for it
Same like many games are shown on YouTube, its not always written agreement, but very few sue someone for it (But as seen with companies like Nintendo you can get sued for it (or am I confusing some outher company?))

Copyright is automatic, it doesn't need to be registered. They have copyright over their images and unauthorised use of it can have negative consequences (should they opt to act over it which is at their discretion).

Whether they will or will not nobody can say that's up to:
1. Whether they find out
2. Whether they care

[Black Blade]

Originally posted by Darren:

Copyright is automatic, it doesn't need to be registered. They have copyright over their images and unauthorised use of it can have negative consequences (should they opt to act over it which is at their discretion).

Whether they will or will not nobody can say that's up to:
1. Whether they find out
2. Whether they care

I think you miss understand me, when I said copyright on it I mean act on it and claim copyrights (AKA sue the user)

[Insanity Claus]

Originally posted by Darren:

Originally posted by Black Blade:

I think if you put something on top of it, like some do with words it will be fine as in the end that is a pretty big change on the art as its cut and put the words giving it a completely new meaning

If you really want to be sure you can ask the company that made it, but over all I don't think there will be an issue for most of them so there unlikely to copyright on something like that

That is as long as its a background that they made for Steam so it's really for it
Same like many games are shown on YouTube, its not always written agreement, but very few sue someone for it (But as seen with companies like Nintendo you can get sued for it (or am I confusing some outher company?))

Copyright is automatic, it doesn't need to be registered. They have copyright over their images and unauthorised use of it can have negative consequences (should they opt to act over it which is at their discretion).

Whether they will or will not nobody can say that's up to:
1. Whether they find out
2. Whether they care

This. The Berne Convention, which is acknowledged in 175 nations, states that a work's copyright is granted to the creator as soon as it is published. You can register your work with the US Copyright Office, but you don't have to. (the USCO is mostly a formality, but it can be very helpful to establish a timeline if there is a legal case)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention

Fair use, as making transformative changes to a preexisting work, isn't as cut and dry as many think. Fair Use is not a defense nor a defined law and must be proven in court. It also relies on several different criteria and the extent of transformation is evaluated on an individual basis by a judge. So, what may be transformative to one judge may not be transformative enough for another judge.

As an example, there is a very popular and renowned photographer, named Richard Prince, whose body of work composes of him taking photographs of other famous photographers' photographs, advertisements in magazines and even having prints made of screenshots of other people's Instagram photos. (Prince is considered one of the pioneers of appropriation art) And, yes, Prince has been sued for his art and lost.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cariou_v._Prince

(below is a more general piece about Richard Prince)

https://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/06/arts/design/06prin.html

(my personal opinion is that Prince is a completely pathetic, loser of an artist, a plagiarist and a disingenuous, pompous fraud)

As far as consequences go, the worst that will likely happen is that you get a warning or somesuch from Valve. If the rights holder wants to issue a complaint, then that complaint will be issues to Valve and Valve will pull the offending art. Valve will not let things get to the point that they will be served Cease & Desist notices and especially not to the point that they will be taken to court.

I doubt the rights holder will do much to you, the user, either. They have no reasons to contact you, as they can sort out everything directly with Valve. If you were to take their work outside of Valve's ecosystem, the rights holders would likely send a C&D letter, then take legal action if you don't comply. Most rights holders do not want to take legal action because its expensive. Sending a boilerplate C&D is the easiest route and most people comply. If they don't, then the next step is to formally file a complaint in court. If a person ignores the C&D, they generally tend to not ignore a formal notice that they are being taken to court. At that point, most rights holders will drop the suit if the infringing party complies because, as said before, going to court is expensive.

Also, unlike trademark, copyright does not need to be enforced to retain it. So, if you create a drawing and you're fine with people using it for memes and stuff, that doesn't mean that you can't sue AT&T if they decide to use your work for their company. Despite common belief, monetization doesn't really matter that much. If you hated a specific site or person that was using your work, you could sue them, leave everyone else alone and still retain your copyright.

[Sgt William DK]

You did made it.
That you used there software is irrelevant.