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Very, very few creatives have a liveable, regular income from their creative vocation, or from a singular source. Copyright protects all of your original work, from the moment you create it. And that means you have an exclusive, but limited time to monetise it, without any competition from others who might want to use your work for their own gain.

Prior to the invention of the printing press, the manual copying of books was so laborious, there was no need for protection. Of course, once this new technology existed, the need to protect the right to copy books also existed.

Did you know that copyright automatically belongs to the creator, except when you’re commissioned or employed to do the work? Commissioning doesn’t always mean you’re paid with money; it could be giving you the supplies for your mural, or any other kind of exchange.

“Public Domain” is an American term used to describe creative works that have an expired copyright duration. In New Zealand, those works are called “Out of copyright.”

Of course, there's a whole other back story regarding the iconic musician, Prince, and his breaking away from his contracts and the need to change his name to an unpronounceable symbol. But today we're talking about a picture of him.

If you’re thinking about signing up with CLNZ, you might have a few questions about how our auction house licensing scheme works, and what’s covered. Or you might be signed up already and just want a refresher.