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Desktop Wallpaper Calendars for July 2012

Design

July desktop calendars are hot off the press. 2012 is halfway gone but these fun and inspiring calendar wallpapers will surely help you get through the dog-days of summer. These fine wallpapers have been hand-picked from talented artists and designers from around the web. Feel free to share your favorites and check back next month for some great new desktop calendars. As always, if you’d like to include your own design in future roundups, let me know.

5 Desktop Wallpaper Calendars for July

Wallpaper by Paper Leaf

Sandy backgrounds and a retro color scheme comprise this beautiful wallpaper. The script font matches nicely with this “made for the beach” design.

Wallpaper by Webgranth

Rainy days may be a title better served for the spring (depending on your location) but regardless, this illustrated desktop calendar provides some optimism for what is typically a scorchingly hot time of year.

Wallpaper by Studio of Mae

Studio of Mae  has another nice  patterned wallpaper ready for July. As always the fonts and minimal calendar go nicely with the lovely background. Enjoy!

Wallpaper by Kriegs

This darker, grunge based design has some nice inkblot/rorschach digital art working for it. Do you see anything in the ink blots?

Wallpaper by Cromoart

Abstract shapes bursting from an evening view of the shade tree on a farm. I absolutely love the color scheme. There’s also iPad and iPhone versions available.

That’s the roundup. Please let us know which calendar is your favorite by leaving a comment below.

The post Desktop Wallpaper Calendars for July 2012 appeared first on Visual Swirl Design Resources.

Desktop Wallpaper Calendars for June 2012

Design

June is here and that means it’s time laying out by the pool, catching lightning bugs, grilling out, and downloading some awesome new desktop wallpaper calendars. These wallpapers have been hand-picked from talented artists and designers that you’ve come to know over the last few months. Feel free to share your favorites and check back next month for some great new desktop calendars. As always, if you’d like to include your own design in future roundups, let me know.

 6 Summer Fun Wallpaper Calendars for your Desktop

Wallpaper by Dave Hornsby

A vibrant and bright calendar with sun flares to boot. This beautiful design is available for download from Dribbble.

Wallpaper by iBrandStudio

This illustrated wallpaper design  shows off a fun color palette that is sure to brighten your desktop.

Wallpaper by Paper Leaf

A more contemporary and minimal design makes this calendar perfect for the clean desktop enthusiasts. Nothing but the view of the rolling hills disappearing into the horizon.

Wallpaper by Webgranth

Another illustrated wallpaper, this time with an important message. If you’re into conservation or just like the color blue, this might be your calendar of choice for June.

Wallpaper by Studio of Mae

Studio of Mae keeps rolling out the simple yet beaufitful wallpapers with what looks like “literally” wallpaper. Crafty indeed!

Wallpaper by Kriegs

Thinking of the beach? This purple-shaded wallpaper reminds us of one of the best joys of summer. Now if only we can get out from behind our desks for a few days.

That’s the roundup. Please let us know which calendar is your favorite by leaving a comment below.

The post Desktop Wallpaper Calendars for June 2012 appeared first on Visual Swirl Design Resources.

What Every Designer Should Know About Copyright

Design

With the advent of the Internet it has become easier than ever to steal, copy, or pirate another’s work. Because of this, it is more important than ever to have increased copyright knowledge and protection. And, since designers work almost solely in the world of creating original work, their very livelihood can at times rest upon their ability to defend themselves from copyright infringement.

Quick Disclaimer: The following is not legal advice. Legal advice deals with specific cases of law and legal action. I am not a lawyer and am not qualified to give legal advice. Instead, these are general facts about the law, which is ever evolving. For dealing with any legal matters, or legal advice, please contact an attorney.

What Copyright Is

The first thing every designer needs to know about the copyright law is just what copyright is. Copyright is the law protecting the exclusive rights of a creator’s original work. It sounds straightforward, but at times it can be rather confusing.

Essentially, copyright law in today’s realm is meant to protect original creative work from unauthorized copying, adapting, or publishing. It protects the sole right of the creator to copy, distribute, publish, and display, and sell the work as they choose.

The Difference Between Copyright and Trademark

Trademarks are used by companies for recognition. They are typically a word, phrase, symbol, device, or name used for recognition purposes. In effect, trademarks are a symbol used for quick recognition by a corporation or entity.

Copyright, on the other hand, deals with any original work, not just a company’s symbol.

What Can’t Be Copyrighted

Purely mechanical, clerical, or factual information.

Work that is not sufficiently original. General lyrics or poems like “Want you so bad baby” don’t pass the test.

Ideas, systems, operations, or procedures.

Works that have already had their copyright expire

Lastly, copyrighted items that are used in fair use conditions

Fair use

Fair use is an exception to copyright laws. Fair use was made to allow copyrighted material be used without the owner’s permission, in so called fair use circumstances. In the United States, these are mostly limited to education uses, new reportage, and satire/parody.

Exclusive Rights

The exclusive rights granted by copyright are temporary. However, that is a matter of decades rather than days or months. Copyrighted work will eventually move into the realm of public use, but typically the author/creator maintains their exclusive rights for an extended period of time, often as long as they are alive.

Owner of Copyright Work

As a designer, it is important to know when the work you create should fall under the protection of copyright, and whether you own the rights to the original work.

Typically speaking, it is always the creator of the original work who owns the copyright, even if allowing the work to be used commercially. However, if the designer is employed by a company and specifically designs something for the employer, the company typically owns the copyright.

Whether the designer keeps the copyrights while self-employed is largely the designer’s decision. The designer has to legally assign the copyright over to the client in order for the client to legally get full control of the copyrighted material. However, most clients typically expect the copyright as part of a package deal with their payment.

The Need to Register

In the United States original work doesn’t need to be registered to enjoy the protection of copyright. However, there are some very serious benefits to registering any valuable, unique, or original work with the US copyright office.

Although all original works are protected under copyright law, whether or not they were registered, it is the registration that makes copyright infringement easy to prove. To this end, the US government will cover the legal fees for a copyright infringement case if the original work is registered with them.

So, the creator of original work could press a copyright infringement suit against someone violating their copyright protections. However, an unregistered creator would have to pay the legal fees themselves, and wouldn’t be awarded any money as just compensation. The registered owner would have their fees paid by the US government, and would more than likely receive statutory damages in the form of money, which isn’t something an unregistered owner can expect.

So, in effect, no one ever needs to register their intellectual property. In practice however, it makes real fiscal sense, along with granting peace of mind.

Again, I’m not a lawyer. If you have any legal questions I would urge you to seek legal counsel.

Hopefully this will help educate designers about the generalities of copyright law. In this day and age there is a very real need for designer to be well informed and prepared against copyright infringement. What experiences have you had as a designer with copyright infringement? Is there anything you would recommend to designers out there concerning copyrights?

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