Frequently Asked Questions
Question
Can I use Cliptures or MacGallery clipart on things that I intend to sell or give away?
Answer
We want our customers to be able to use our graphics to the fullest extent possible, for fun or profit, as long as it is not detrimental to our basic business of selling stock artwork (clipart). Here is a list of things that we are frequently asked about using them for, for personal or commercial purposes. Whether it is for personal use or commercial use is not an issue for us. These apply in either case. Each item is preceded with a Y (yes) or N (no) as to what our answer is:
| Y | Address Labels |
| Y | Applied to Craft Items for Sale or as Gifts |
| Y | Awards and Plaques |
| Y | Books (for illustration only, not as stock or reusable art) |
| Y | Buttons |
| Y | Calendars |
| Y | Candy Wrappers |
| Y | Cards |
| Y | Clothing Articles (T-shirts, Hats, etc...) |
| Y | Coffee Cups |
| Y | Envelopes |
| Y | Flyers |
| Y | Labels * (You can use them for things like address labels, jar or can labels as long as it is not just the graphic by itself.) |
| Y | Letterhead |
| Y | Letters |
| Y | Magazines (for illustration only, not as stock or reusable art) |
| Y | Mouse Pads |
| Y | Novelty Premium Items |
| Y | Printed Documents (stationery, cards, signs, flyers, etc...) |
| Y | Signs |
| Y | Embroidered Items * You may create an embroidery pattern that you may personally use to apply to finished clothing. You're welcome to sell or give away the finished clothing which includes the artwork. However, you may not give, sell, or distribute in any way, digital versions of our artwork to be used on any kind of embroidery equipment. Also, you may not sell or give away patches or appliques that contain our artwork, or, any derivatives thereof. |
| N | Anything on computer media |
| N | Clip Art Books or pages |
| N | Coloring Books |
| N | |
| N | Web Pages |
| N | Iron-On / Dry Transfer Sheets (for 3rd party to use) |
| N | Rubber Stamps * (You can make them for yourself, but you cannot give or sell them to anyone else.) |
| N | Software Programs |
| N | Layout Templates (like templates for Print Artist or any other program) |
| N | Stickers * (You can make them for yourself, but you cannot give or sell them to anyone else.) |
| N | Stock Art Pages |
| N | Any form of artwork or graphics for use by a 3rd party, whether for free or not. |
We have had many requests from persons wanting to use Cliptures clipart on web pages. The reason we do not allow this is very simple. What one person can put on a web page, another person can very easily copy from that page and use themselves without ever compensating us for our work. And so on, and so on....
The same basic reasoning applies to the other things that we do not allow.
For example: If someone creates rubber stamps from our clipart and then gives away or sells those rubber stamps to a third party, that third party can then use the rubber stamps to apply our artwork (which we worked hard to create so that we can earn a living too) to their cards or letters or whatever without ever compensating us for our work. The person creating the rubber stamps is taking our work and providing it to someone else in a way that would most probably keep that third party from ever needing or wanting to buy that graphic from us. The third party might think: "I really like those Teddy Bear images and I can buy those rubber stamps or stickers from so and so and use them on my letters." By them doing that, the chances are slim that they will ever need or want to buy those graphics from us. In essence, the person distributing the rubber stamps is taking our hard work and giving or selling it to other people and completely eliminating us (the creators, the ones with the major investment in the work) from the food chain.
On the other hand: If someone creates printed cards using Cliptures clipart and then sells or gives those cards to a third party. That third party will use the cards up and hopefully like them so much that they will come back to our customer (you) and get you to sell (or give) them some more. What they can't easily do is take the artwork and start making their own cards. Yes, they can scan or copy it which is illegal. They can also steal bottles from babies which is at least a morally bad thing to do. We can't control what bad people do but we can define the ways and means for honest people. And by providing it to them as a finished card, t-shirt, or craft item, you have not provided them with an honest means to pilfer our work. It's also possible that in the person who has been buying cards from you may find and decide to buy Cliptures clipart for themselves and make their own stuff. That is an inherent risk you take in using any type of stock graphics. But it's also the tradeoff you get when you don't have to go out and spend major dollars to develop your own graphics for your cards!