Copyright

No image or artwork is to be downloaded, copied, duplicated, modified, sampled, redistributed, archived, etc., in whole or in part, without the express prior written authorization of Walt Stearns and Ocean Arts, Inc. Without exception, all text and photos copyright 2010 Walt Stearns/Ocean Arts, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.

All photographs appearing in this Walt Stearns web site are under the protection of The United States and international copyright laws. No photograph may be reproduced, copied, stored, manipulated or used whole or in part of a derivative work, without the written permission of Walt Stearns.

A derivative work is the use of Walt Stearns work as the basis for, or part of another photographic concept or illustration and is in violation of copyright.

Current federal copyright law, passed January 1, 1978, states that Walt Stearns, and any other photographer’s work displayed on this site, owns his/her copyright to any photograph unless they choose to sign it away for compensation. The photographer or designated agent has the exclusive right to exploit the copyright for each image, and that right remains in force for the life of the photographer plus 70 years.

Permission to use any copyrighted photograph must be obtained in advance. Failure to do so may place the user in violation of the federal copyright law and subject to prosecution. Any unauthorized use of a copyrighted image shall be considered an infringement. Penalties for infringement, whether willful or innocent, can be severe.