Clip Art Files & Copyright

Recently, my tech support department (aka my husband) asked me if I really had permissions to share my clip art files with you on Mel’s Desk. I went searching out the service agreements…and decided I probably didn’t. Yes, clip art is meant to be used and distributed, but only when it’s a small part of the final product (one image on a blog post or newsletter, for example). You can’t redistribute Microsoft clip art if the final product is primarily the images themselves…which is exactly what I’d been doing.

So this weekend I went through and pulled down all the links to my clip art flannelboard files. Since I want to continue to provide grab-and-go flannelboard sets, as we go forward I will work on developing more of my own patterns and cut-paper images to share.

If you have any questions about any of the clip art sets you see here, please leave me a comment and I will try to share some tips for creating your own file.

I love sharing and am sorry to take this step, but I’m excited about creating more of my own things instead!

Also, check out Mary’s recent post, with links to other clip art resources online.

From The Microsoft Service Agreement at
http://explore.live.com/microsoft-service-agreement

17. Office.com and Office Web App media elements and templates
If you use Microsoft Office.com or the Microsoft Office Web Apps, you may have access to media images, clip art, animations, sounds, music, video clips, templates, and other forms of content (“media elements”) provided with the software available on Office.com or as part of a service associated with the software. You may copy and use the media elements in projects and documents. You may not: (i) sell, license, or distribute copies of the media elements by themselves or as a product if the primary value of the product is the media elements; (ii) grant your customers rights to further license or distribute the media elements; (iii) license or distribute for commercial purposes media elements that include the representation of identifiable individuals, governments, logos, trademarks, or emblems or use these types of images in ways that could imply an endorsement or association with your product, entity or activity; or (iv) create obscene works using the media elements. For more information, see the Use of Microsoft Copyrighted Content webpage (http://www.microsoft.com/permission).