Angel Policies

As far as I can tell, the most general rule to follow about trademarked, sold images is this: Never reproduce by machine to sell or give away. Remember to always hand stamp if you share. Do not scan and upload them as "free." Artists work very hard to create a finished image or sentiment. They need to be compensated for all their time, expertise and creativity. As stampers, let's all respect their work by complying with whatever rules they state at each web site. But each angel policy can vary and at times, there isn't one listed. So revert to the above rule.

If you sell your cards and other stamped creations, be sure to add the name of the stamp company to the back of your card. Sometimes, companies include a very small stamp within a stamp set that says their name and you can use it to i.d. which company's stamps you used. At times, I have used tiny printed handwriting on the back of cards I've sold.

Before I started collecting rubber stamps (mid 2011), I had never heard the term "Angel Policy." By the time I heard it enough to look into it, I owned many stamps from many companies (8 boxes of stamps from endless companies). Here is my challenge: looking up all the different angel policies for these stamps. As a crafter, how I wish the stamps had a policy reference on them. For example, if the designer allows for 50 stamped copies per year and sharing is ok, a reference could be placed on the stamp so the public could easily understand the legal boundaries of using the stamp. IMHO many of us are innocently ignorant of this issue and the information is not easily attainable.

A stamp designer emailed me this helpful link to help me continue learning about angel policies:

http://stampoutstamptheft.blogspot.com/

If you have more information about specific company angel policies, please feel free to post or email me. I, for one, would appreciate it so much. Thanks, and keep on stamping (for yourself and a few friends  :)