# Copyright Issues - How To Do It Safe?



## truthninja (Apr 5, 2011)

I have a problem with an ongoing problem. Too many times have an artist taken down my designs because it was either too close to his or contain words not allowed to be used! 

Now, I have decided to do drawings of the musician! Say i want to draw kanye west's face. I'm sure you can't copyright a face! 

My main concern is...
1) Can I draw from a picture and it be almost identical yet have at least 30 percent difference 
2) Can I trace a real photo, and draw it using illustrator?
3) Can I use his designs and make it my own?


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## kimura-mma (Jul 26, 2008)

truthninja said:


> Now, I have decided to do drawings of the musician! Say i want to draw kanye west's face. I'm sure you can't copyright a face!


Actually, this is illegal and could potentially get you sued. All people have civil rights known as Right of Publicity. These laws grant each person the exclusive rights to profit off their own name and likeness. So any usage without license or permission would be in violation of their right of publicity and you could be sued.



truthninja said:


> Can I draw from a picture and it be almost identical yet have at least 30 percent difference


There is no law that stipulates a certain percentage of difference will make your version legal. Any time you draw something from a picture, there will be some level of risk.

If you were drawing a tree, that would probably be low risk because it's hard to distinguish one tree from another.

But when drawing a person, it's a bit easier to identify the source photo. So the copyright owner could potentially sue if they believe you are infringing on their photo. And as mentioned above, there are right of publicity laws involved when creating images of people.



truthninja said:


> Can I trace a real photo, and draw it using illustrator?


Yes, but if the copyright owner can identify their photo, they can sue for infringement. The same info above applies here as well.



truthninja said:


> Can I use his designs and make it my own?


Using someone else's designs and making it your own is always going to be risky because copyright and trademark owners can sue for infringement.

There is no law or rule to follow that will make you completely safe from being sued. You just need to do what's right. If you have been told "too many times" to take down your designs, then you are clearly doing something wrong.

It's hard to give you some clear direction without seeing what kind of artwork you are doing.

But the bottom line is, rather than try to figure out how to safely infringe, you need to create your own original designs. There is nothing wrong with finding inspiration in other artwork, but when you create your own artwork, there needs to be some original creativity to truly make it your own.


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## PositiveDave (Dec 1, 2008)

read the Shepard Fairey case - Barack Obama "Hope" poster - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/10/arts/design/10fair.html


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## red514 (Jul 21, 2009)

good posts!
i had read that article about Shepard Fairey case, it's very interesting.
Dave, have you see the Banksy film, 'exit through the gift shop'? it's really good and interesting. it doesn't actually deal with copyrights and such but does make you think about what those artists are doing. I'm still on the fence about that sort of design work, i'm not for or against it but i do find this subject very interesting.
I went to a FreshJive exhibit 'what a long strange trip it's been' last year that the owner curated and he talked about this topic because he's done allot of parody shirts and it got to a point where they did a series using other streetwear brands logos done up with the FreshJive name, Stussy even filed a suit against them, and Stussy is known for doing parody shirts also. it's such a strange world....
fixins fashion: Stussy Files Suit


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## truthninja (Apr 5, 2011)

This is very bad news for me, but i mean even if it's the same pose, there's still addition effects added to symbol something else. I don't think copying photo and recreating it into a cartoon is infrignment. Anything can be infrignment. 

Otherwise very great post, thanks for the help! 

I am going to wisen up!


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## kimura-mma (Jul 26, 2008)

truthninja said:


> I don't think copying photo and recreating it into a cartoon is infrignment.


You can think what you want if it makes you feel better. But if a copyright owner believes you used their photo to create your cartoon, then they have every right to sue. Whether they an substantiate their claim is another story.

But for what it's worth, creating cartoons of celebrities is much riskier in regards to right of publicity than copyright. It seems you are on the right track to understanding a bit more about these issues, so I'm sure you'll get it all figured out.


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## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

truthninja said:


> This is very bad news for me, but i mean even if it's the same pose, there's still addition effects added to symbol something else. I don't think copying photo and recreating it into a cartoon is infrignment. Anything can be infrignment.


You'll be better off if you drew original artwork or a caricature. At least that might give you some protection.


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## charles95405 (Feb 1, 2007)

it is very risky asking legal advice/opinion in a public forum such as this....However I had a limited exposure to the legal system and have found Tim's advice to pretty much straight forward..He has posted some very good opinions...as he did in this post..

Also remember this ...anyone can sue anyone and you will either have to lose by default or get your own attorney...could be expensive best rule...when in doubt....don't

Also the copyright holder does not have to send a cease and desist letter....They can just file the action and then you have 30 days to respond....not worth it


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## GladRagsInk (Nov 30, 2010)

kimura-mma said:


> But if a copyright owner believes you used their photo to create your cartoon, then they have every right to sue. Whether they an substantiate their claim is another story.


well said. You can get sued for just about anything, whether or not your at fault.

I work with a company called Lakers Nation that is not affiliated with the Lakers but does related merchandise. They work closely with the Lakers lawyers to avoid trademark violations. They have been able to use "artistic renditions" without much problem.

Whatever you do, tread lightly.


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