Working with copyright regulations

Right now, I’m working with finding a solution that will allow me to post the readings I do online with the spreads. The main issue is that the publishers have very strict regulations about copyright, and you certainly would not be allowed to put up any of their images online (I checked).

So the solution is a) to search for freeware tarot, distributed under the General Public License, or b) to create my own set. The freeware search has yielded a few suitable sets, but honestly, I’m not sure about the copyright issue. Some have been listed simply because their creator didn’t say anything about copyright. Another set is a pop-culture collage, which includes photographs of celebrities, so that’s pretty murky.

The best bet seems to be the Colman-Smith set, which was released as a gift to the community by an artist who redesigned the Rider-Waite deck, which used to be considered royalty-free, but has been declared to legally belong to U.S. Games. I’m on the fence on that one, since it’s part of a a really complicated copyright case.

So right now, I’m seriously considering option b), which I’ve thought about doing many a time. Will need to be simple though, as I haven’t much time. Hmm…

What’s freetarot all about?

Hi there, I’m Megan Laine. If you found your way here, I guess you must be wondering what this blog is all about. Well, read on!

I’m a lover and collector of tarot decks, and freetarot.wordpress.com is my project to expand my exploration of the tarot. While I’ve loved and studied the tarot for years, I’ve been mainly reading for myself, friends and family. While this is fulfilling by itself, it does get kind of boring after a while, and I’m looking for a challenge. So I’ve decided to give free readings on my blog as a project.

If you’ll like a reading from me, do drop me an email at megan.tarotreading@gmail.com, stating the following:

1. Your name
2. Date of birth
3. Your question*

*It’s important that you give me some context to your question and here’s why. For live readings, I ask the querent to focus their energy on their question while I shuffle the cards, so I don’t need to ask questions. Unfortunately, taking email queries doesn’t allow for that, so I need to put in that focus on your behalf.

Context doesn’t need to be wordy either. Something like, “My boyfriend lives in England while I live in the States. We’ve been together for two years now, and I’m worried that we’re drifting apart. What will be the outcome of our relationship?” would do perfectly fine!

Any strings attached?

Nope, none whatsoever. But I need you to understand that I reserve the right to choose the queries I want to do readings for, the deck I want to read with and the spread I want to use. This is to maximise my own learning experience as well as yours. So if you’re okay with that, go ahead!