While reading a friends blog I saw a copywrited ink drawing of a woman posing nude. I believe it was done by a tattoo artist. I liked the pic so much I emailed the artist and asked if there was a way I could get a poster of the design or buy a print. Since he never responded I went to a art store and bought some paint and created my version of the artists work. Same drawing style & same pose, but his was in black & white, mine is in color. His was fully nude, mine is wearing underwear. I also changed the womans face to make her look more like me.
The picture came out very well and friends have suggested I sell it on ebay. If I do that can I get sued for copywrite violations.
2006-12-14 17:14:18 · 5 answers · asked by WriterChic 3 in Politics & Government ➔ Law & Ethics
No you wont be sued, What you did was original art work by YOU that was INSPIRED by the picture that you saw. Now, if you straight copied the picture and left it in its orginal format and said it was yours THEN it would be stealing and also copyright infringment. A lot of artists are INSPIRED by other artists, if they weren't then we would not have the likes of Gauguin, Lautrec, Picasso, and the current artists we have today.
2006-12-14 17:31:57 · answer #1 · answered by TriadMonkey 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
As a general rule, I believe the guideline to avoid copyright infringement is a 40% change. Of course, this is difficult to determine with a piece of artwork. So what you would need to look at is how practical & cost effective would it be for the artist to sue you. Are you mass producing the piece, or just selling the one? Would the money you bring in be significantly more than the amount it would cost the artist's legal fees needed to sue? Odds are, if you just painted one, the profits received wouldn't be enough to make it worth his while. Also, there are some legal websites you could look at, too. Nolo.com is one, but I'm sure there are others. Try Googling copyright laws for your state!
2006-12-15 01:33:00 · answer #2 · answered by snippet 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is not copyright infringement. I take an art class in which an artist takes a piece of work (usually not her own) and walks us through on how to paint the piece. She said it is not copyright infringement because it is being changed. It would only be wrong if you were directly copying it (i.e. tracing it...)
She actually encourages us to sell our work at art shows after we have learned how to do the painting.
2006-12-15 01:24:07 · answer #3 · answered by caro 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
There is no violation of the Copyright Law because your work is very much different from the work you supposedly copied.
2006-12-15 01:36:23 · answer #4 · answered by FRAGINAL, JTM 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It is doubtful if you changed it that much. Not to mention, the person that did would probably never know it. However, this is a real shady area, if you know a lawyer you should talk to them first.
2006-12-15 01:19:24 · answer #5 · answered by Christopher 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋