In producing, photographing and cataloguing the images shown Garry Orriss of Goart.com is the copyright owner and thus holds licensing status. If you wish to purchase original images or find out more about your rights, along with licensing please contact us at Licensing[at]goart.com. No images contained on this website are within the Public Domain and all rights are reserved. Goart.com contains proprietary information and all photographs, text, html and flash coding contained on Goart.com is intellectual property and is protected under the Berne Convention, the International Copyright Treaty which is today signed by over 170 countries. Any unauthorized reproduction of this website or corresponding data banks in whole or in part is illegal and constitutes a breach of the following International laws and treaties, (UCC), (TRIPS), (WIPO) and (DMCA). These laws adhere to, govern and protect the use of copyright and intellectual property. The images, videos and text contained on Goart.com have a limited usage, the main limitation is that you may not use an image to create a product which is then sold, (e.g. book, poster, postcard, ex.), without having written permission and making a payment of usage or licensing fees. A basic guideline is stated below.

YOU MAY NOT:

Copyright laws and the governance of international rules and treaties exist for several reasons. With respect to art their purpose is to provide protection to the artist, so that he or she may benefit from the fruits of their creativity. Even though it only takes a split second for the camera's shutter to be activated, it's the many hours, (quite often hundreds), that are needed in producing an artwork. This does not include any associated expenses like employment of people or shooting on location or overseas exc, that makes each portrait run quickly into many tens of thousands of dollars. If people were simply able to steal and use images without first making payment of usage or licensing fees there would be no point in having industries at all. This is what the world's governments along with the world's manufacturing, publishing and entertainment sectors feel and a reason why copyright laws exist.
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Copyright is important to us for many reasons. Firstly, when a German television network, American magazine or an Australian publisher purchases a license to reproduce any Garry Orriss image they do so under specific limitations. The money derived from this helps to employ a network of people and it is their employment that is derived from the success of the Garry Orriss brand name and company. These people are dedicated professionals who are focused on the aims and vision of the company as well as that of the artist. Protecting theirs and our interest is the number one priority while supporting our licensees in protecting theirs.
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Yes! Under the Berne Convention otherwise known as The International Copyright Treaty which is signed by over 170 countries, means that the rights for Intellectual Property are protected. Penalties for copyright infringement vary from country to country, in the U.S. for example they top out at $150,000.00 and this does not include any legal expenses that are usually awarded in a copyright infringement case. On October 28, 1998 The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) came into existence further enhancing the World Intellectual Property Organization treaty (WIPO) while bringing it into the digital age. In order to stop the illegal downloading or misuse of artistic images and text contained on the Goart-Network, all Garry Orriss artworks have been digitally watermarked using Digimarc Technology and are indexed on the internet by the Digimarc Spider. At present Digimarc spiders trawl around 100 million websites a day searching for a special internal code. This means that by copying, downloading, cropping or pasting images or information contained on Goart.com or any Goart related website, means that you place yourself then open to legal prosecution. Furthermore, the artwork of Garry Orriss is seen and used worldwide and is protected by a network of agents in over 60 countries. These agents other wise known as Stock Agents are companies who's job it is to hire out, licence, distribute and collect usage and licensing fees whilst upholding the rights of the artist. They are paid handsome commissions and will go after anyone who is found to be using images without permission, if you are violating copyright the chances are you will notified by them first. If however you were to be notified by us, infringement violators will be invoiced at accelerated usage fees plus all legal expenses required to collect these fees and summoned to either a US, Australian or European court. The actual Goart posted country for legal jurisdiction may be found in our Terms and Conditions Agreement under Clause § 29. Governing Law. If you know of anyone who is breaking the law by violating copyright please contact us at Infringement[at]goart.com.
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Proving that a Garry Orriss image has been stolen is very easy. Firstly, all images contained on Goart.com have special digital watermarks embedded into their data files that identify the artist Garry Orriss as being the copyright owner. Even though you cannot see them, they are there. Before you think of simply downloading or cutting them out, think again! Under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 otherwise known as the (DMCA) means that cropping digital watermarks out of their frames only enhances the likely hood of legal and criminal prosecution being bought against you. This is known in a court of law as "Wilful Intent to Violate Copyright" and is an illegal act itself. It is something very difficult to argue your way out of and is similar to stealing only to be caught on video. Secondly, all models know Garry Orriss and have signed model releases with him and this is witnessed by people. Photo sessions are documented on film and video for later release in television and cinema films. Documentation is also done using 35mm film, digital cameras, DVC Pro, mini-DV, large and medium formats as well as on DAT and digital recorders.
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COPYRIGHT INFORMATION LINKS:

http://www.wipo.org WIPO is the World Intellectual Property Organization. http://www.loc.gov/copyright/ Is the United States Copyright Office. http://www.copyright.org.au Is the Australian Copyright Council.
http://bundesrecht.juris.de/urhg/ The German Copyright Office.
http://www.cisac.org The International Confederation of Societies of Authors and Composers.
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INTERNATIONAL LAWS:

MORAL RIGHTS

Moral rights reflect a personal interest in a work of art and are attributable only to the artist. They are enacted under the Visual Artists Rights Act "VARA" and are within the Berne Convention. The Visual Artists Rights Act recognizes an artist's limited right of attribution, right of integrity, and right to prevent the degradation or destruction of certain works of art. The artworks of Garry Orriss are intellectual property and are protected by the above international copyright laws. If you receive a non-transferable license to use any photographic artworks, you should respect the work of art that is licensed to you.