Before you take a cartoon
(or any artwork, photo, or written material)
to use on your website
or to send to someone else...
READ THIS!
belongs to someone else.
It is their property!
They alone own the right to make copies of it or to publish it.
You do not have that right.
When someone draws a cartoon, he or she automatically
becomes its legal owner, and is the only person who has the
right to make copies (that's why it's called "copyright").
Almost every country in the world
has agreed to this right, and has laws to protect it.
The cartoon (or drawing or photo or story or animation)
you're thinking of using belongs to someone...
whether it's the cartoonist -- or a person or company
that acquired the copyright from him or her.
Except for the very rare instance where the copyright owner specifically
puts the cartoon into "public domain"
-- or the cartoon is really old, and its copyright has expired --
it belongs to someone; it's their property!
Nearly every cartoon that's
published on the internet belongs to someone.
Most artists and writers put their name on their work. Many also add
copyright information -- the circled "c" and a date (© 2000).
With or without that -- the artwork still belongs to them!
the artist's signature and copyright information --
thinking (or hoping) that, "...just because something's on the internet,
it doesn't belong to anyone...".
This is incorrect, and it is theft.
Making a copy of a cartoon and putting it on
your website without the owner's permission is
stealing from that person.
--whether it has an artist's signature and
copyright information on it or not --
is receiving stolen goods.
"Ignorance" is no excuse.
Profiting from the use of such
stolen goods to generate traffic on a website and sell
advertising space there is particularly reprehensible.
But there's good news!
Most creators whose work appears on the web
don't mind having our work published elsewhere on the web
-- as long as it's done with our knowledge and permission!
We might want to be compensated in some way (which is only reasonable,
since that's how most of us earn a living), but the very least we should
expect is credit for our work and a direct link to our website.
It's up to you to get permission from whoever owns the copyright
-- it's your responsibility --
you can't just use their cartoons and hope they'll somehow
find out about it and contact you!
If you don't have permission from the copyright owner...
don't use the cartoons!