jewelry making questions?

The main distinction to make here for all your questions is whether or not you want to *sell* the items (in other words make a profit, or do "business"--even a tiny business of one sale).

If you want to make something for yourself or to give as a gift, then you can use any images you want--no one will go after you if you don't do a huge amount.

But if you want to sell them, you can only use images under that are copyrighted or protected by trademark like logos/brand names/etc (and most are) which you have purchased** or own. And you own only that single item/image.

You can't sell images you've copied from online and printed out, or even drawn or sculpted yourself, if the original images are already legally protected by copyright or trademark. Even images from "Dover clip art books," etc, usually have small print somewhere that allows only a certain number of the copied images to be used and sold without getting permission (sometimes allowed, sometimes refused). Even images from stamps are usually protected that way unless they're images from "angel" stamp companies.

**such as the image in a magazine or flyer you've actually purchased or that was given away... you can use that particular piece of paper with the image on it, but you can't duplicate it to use for making a profit

...you might also own transfers of copyrighted images or something like that which you've purchased from a business; you can use those single items to sell but only because the business has already paid the copyright/trademark holder

Now ...whether anyone will ever *see* that you're selling things so they can go after you depends on where you're selling mostly. If you're doing it online, or at a large craft show, or at a football game (using the logo of the team), etc, you're much more likely to be discovered than if you're selling to a few friends at school or work. And many young people for example have no idea they're even violating copyright/trademarks, but just aren't doing it in a way that gets much notice by the right people.

Also, some companies (owners of the copyrights/trademarks) are *much* more aggressive than others about coming after anyone who sells "their" images at all--Disney, for example!

There are a few complications in the law about trademarked/copyrighted images used for parody, art, "fair use," etc, but those probably wouldn't affect you.

U.S. copyrights (and trademarks?) created before 1927 or a similar time are not protected usually btw, and many of the pendants/etc you might see have really-old images from paintings, etc.

You can read more about copyrights/etc, on this page of my site especially for selling crafts/art/etc, if you're interested:

http://glassattic.com/polymer/owning_copyrights.ht... (click on the category called Copyrights, Trademarks, Patents)

...and Wikipedia's articles on copyright and public domain

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Public_domain

Jewelry Making Pictures

You'd be better off to call your bottle of soda necklace Lemon & Lime instead of Sprite. Sprite is a trademarked name, the trademark owner can prosecute you for using his trademark for your personal gain.

How do I know this? I used to work with a lady who works with women in a developing country who make paper bead jewelry and soda can bracelets. When one of the soda companies found out, she was told she had to quit selling anything that was identifiable as a particular product, e.g., if something on the bracelet was identifiable as part of a Coca-Cola or Pepsi can, she could no longer sell it.

I commend you for asking the questions and doing the research on copyright infringement. Your best bet is always to use your own ideas.

One word of caution: If you want a valid, legal answer, check with an attorney. You've seen that my opinion differs from the opinion of the first poster. You have no way to know whether either one of us knows what we're talking about.

It definitely depends on where you want to sell it. If it's a fundraiser or a small personal business, it's fine. You just can't go commercial with it. You seem like you did a lot of research...but first off, you can use any kind of paper, no matter what's printed on it, to make jewelry if you want to. Second, you can make necklaces and charms off of "popular food items". It's perfectly legitimate. Your last question...I'm pretty sure that's alright. It kind of depends, but in most cases, it's okay. So unless you're like opening a franchise or something, you should be fine...

I make allot of bead,crystal and gemstone jewelry and find the best place to buy what I want is of all places ebay. I can buy swarovski crystals, beads from around the world gemstones and all the fittings in gold, st silver or cheaper ones either in a single piece or wholesale lots at great prices. I can also get great ideas for pieces to make.

Could you theoretically charge for the jewelry but not the image, the image would be free ;D

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