Graalians - Stolen Graphics - Staff, Please Read

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The word "license" means the "freedom to do something." So when you give a company a license to use your art, that means you're giving them the freedom or ability to use your art in a certain way, on a certain type of product, for a certain period of time, and with certain restrictions on usage.

Another key concept has to do with the difference between "copyrights" and "reproduction rights." While you own the copyright to your art for 75 or 90 years from the time you created it -- whether or not you've registered that copyright with the U.S. Copyright Office -- you also own the reproduction rights to your art. That means that no one can reproduce your art without your OK.

http://www.porterfieldsfineart.com/h...nseyourart.htm

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What Sort of Things are Copyrighted?

The easy answer to this question is that just about any creative work you might find should be considered to be copyrighted by default.

A work is not required to have a copyright statement printed on it or near it in order to be considered copyrighted so do not assume that the work is unprotected simply because you cannot see a notice written anywhere.

Also do not confuse the fact that a work is publicly available with the idea that it is public domain or free for use. Being easy to find on the internet does not affect a work's copyrighted status.

http://about.deviantart.com/policy/copyright/

This shouldn't even need to be brought up however, the principle alone is bad enough.