Coloring has become a very popular hobby for adults and children alike. With all of the mental health and learning benefits that coloring provides, it is no surprise that an increasing amount of people are opening coloring books during their downtime. One question many ask regarding coloring is, “Are coloring books copyrighted?” This is a very valid question and we have all the details you need to know!
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How Publishers Copyright Coloring Books
When a publisher decides to release a coloring book, most publishers will ensure that the designs in the coloring book are copyrighted. Certain situations must take place for a publisher to be able to copyright the designs in the coloring book.
The first situation where a publisher could copyright the designs is if the publisher is the person or group of people who designed and made the designs themselves. If they designed the designs, they would have the right to copyright the designs as well.
Other times when a publisher could copyright the designs in a coloring book are when the publisher purchases the rights to the designs (which would include the right to copyright the designs as well) if the publisher licensed the rights from the copyright holder, and if the designs were included in the public domain (which means no one currently owns them).
When the publisher gets the coloring book copyrighted and sells the book to the public, they still own rights to the coloring designs. Although you will color and finish the designs on your own, it does not mean that you will own the designs yourself completely at that point. You do still need to be aware of what is and isn’t allowed for you to do with the coloring book once it’s been copyrighted.
What Rights You Have When You Purchase a Coloring Book
Coloring books serve the purpose of bringing joy and relaxation to those who purchase them. When we purchase a coloring book, we plan on adding color and making the designs our own with our own finishing touches. No one wants to purchase a coloring book and just let it stay blank forever! After you’ve purchased the coloring book, you now have your rights to the coloring book (and the publisher still has their rights as well).
As you might have expected, you have the right to color each of the designs how you want. Once you purchase the coloring book, you have the right to do whatever you want with your physical copy of the coloring book. This means you can tear the pages out, you can color the pages and the designs however you want (including using whatever method of color you want).
Once you’ve colored all the pages in your coloring book, you still have the right to do what you’d like with each coloring page. You can give the colored copies to anyone you’d like. You can even post your colored artwork online to share with friends and family. You need to keep in mind that the pages must be colored for you to be able to share them online.
When it comes to coloring books, the majority of your rights relate to the finished product after you’ve colored the pages. Once you’ve colored the designs, they turn into your artwork that you are free to share and give away. Before you’ve colored the designs, the design is still considered by the publishers (since you haven’t put your touches on it yet).
Things You Can’t Do with Your Coloring Books
Although you can do what you want with your physical copy of your coloring book, this only pertains to your actual physical copy. After you’ve purchased the coloring book, you do not have the rights to the artwork designs themselves. You have purchased the book itself, but the publisher still owns the actual designs and controls how the designs are used.
Therefore, you can not make copies of the blank pages in your coloring book. You also can’t distribute the artwork pages. Making copies and distributing the designs in your coloring books would be considered breaking copyright laws. This is because you own your physical copy of the coloring book, but you don’t own the actual designs themselves.
If you want to share a coloring book with someone, you need to share the link to where you purchased the coloring book or let your friend know what store you purchased your coloring book in. To follow the copyright laws, your friend must purchase a copy of the coloring book. Printing off blank copies for your friends is not allowed by copyright laws.
Another thing you can’t do with a coloring book once you’ve purchased it is post pictures of the blank coloring pages online. As mentioned, you can share your finished coloring pages, but the pages can not be blank. If you share blank copies of the coloring pages, then others will be able to print off the blank pages and color the pages themselves (without purchasing the actual coloring book).
This means that after you’ve purchased a coloring book, both you and the publisher share rights to the coloring book. The publisher still has the rights to the actual artwork designs that are included in the coloring book. However, you own the rights to the book itself and you have the right to color and decorate the coloring book how you’d like.
Other Facts Regarding Copyrighting
The act of getting something copyrighted means that your item is protected by law. Once you’ve gotten something copyrighted, you are the designated owner of that item by law. Therefore, if someone makes copies of the item or uses it against your wishes, they would be breaking copyright laws. This is why you should never make copies of blank coloring pages from your coloring books.
If someone breaks copyright laws, the most common result is facing lawsuits from the person or group that owns the copyright for the particular item. Depending on the court situation, this could potentially add up to paying thousands of dollars (if it is proven in court that the person broke the copyright law).
Some of the items that you can legally copyright include drawings (like the designs featured in your coloring books), music, literature, and many other creative elements. Many businesses choose to get things copyrighted if they can so that others can’t take the things they’ve come up with or resell them.
If you come up with an original song and do not get it copyrighted, then someone else could use the song as their own if they found it. Without getting it legally copyrighted, you would have a more difficult time proving that the song was yours first. Without being legally copyrighted, others would still have the legal right to use the music.
There are many resources and websites available to help you get something copyrighted. Before you get something copyrighted, you also want to look into seeing if the item you want to copyright has already been copyrighted previously by someone else. If something is already actively copyrighted by someone else, you won’t be able to copyright it yourself successfully.
Some of the things that you can’t copyright include commonly known information, choreographic elements, fashion items, names, titles, ideas, and systems. Although many think otherwise, this also includes catchy slogans. These can not be copyrighted either.
Benefits of Coloring as a Hobby
People start coloring for many reasons. Some of us do it as a hobby, as something to do for fun in our free time. Parents may color with their kids as an activity to help them bond. Others may color as a way to relax. However, there are a large amount of benefits that come along with coloring as a hobby!
To begin, coloring has many mental health benefits. If you’ve been coloring for any amount of time, you have likely noticed that coloring puts you in a relaxed state of mind. It also helps reduce stress and anxiety. Many therapists choose to use coloring as a way to help their clients heal from past trauma.
By adding coloring to your regular schedule, it will help you remain in a more relaxed mindset regularly. If you’ve had a day that was rather tough or stressful, coloring at home can help you decompress and let go of any past worries from the day you’ve had.
Coloring helps you relieve anxiety and stress because it helps you focus on one thing. When you are coloring, your mind likely tends to get quiet and you focus on your design. You are thinking about what colors to choose and where you want each color to go. Coloring is not a stressful activity. Your mind can relax when you color.
Another large benefit of coloring is how it can increase learning. Many of us know that children learn from coloring at a young age. Children often learn their colors, shapes, and objects by coloring. However, coloring can even help adults learn as well! Coloring can sharpen your mind as an adult. It improves cognitive abilities for everyone.
The last major benefit of coloring is it increases your creativity. This is a benefit for people of all ages. Once you start coloring regularly, your creativity will be regularly used. When you color in a coloring book, you are actively using your creativity, even if you don’t realize it. By increasing your creativity, it can also improve your work life and increase your problem-solving abilities as well.
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