Copyright Basics For Artists | Art Advice
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- Опубліковано 4 гру 2017
- Hi guys and welcome to another art advice video!
I've heard a lot of people struggle with copyright (and a lot of misconceptions) so I thought I'd make a video sharing what I know about copyright.
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COPYRIGHT FREE PHOTO REFERENCE WEBSITES:
www.pixabay.com/
www.pexels.com
www.unsplash.com/
www.pmp-art.com/
www.wildlifereferencephotos.com
+ facebook groups, deviantart accounts that share stock photos and many more.
You can also use the advanced tools on google search in order to filter by creative commons licence.
I'm not affiliated with any of these websites and there are no doubt more out there. Make sure to check the creative commons licencing before using a photo. It's also a good idea to reverse image search an image to make sure that it hasn't been stolen and uploaded with a CC0 licence.
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Just a disclaimer! I'm not a copyright lawyer, nor do I pretend to be- so if you're unsure about anything check to see if you can find your own local laws on the matter. I always recommend erring on the side of caution :)
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Frequently Asked Questions: claudiasketches.wixsite.com/h...
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Time stamps:
What is copyright? 1:06
How does it affect me? 3:22
How do I find copyright free images to use? 5:39
Why should I follow copyright law? 9:01
When do I have rights to an image? 11:54
What about Fanart? 13:40
When is it safe to be inspired? 15:10
Derivative works and Fair Use 17:00
Conclusion 17:28
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Tutorial: • Coloured Pencil Tutori...
Q&A Video: Watch this space!
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Extra Reading/watching:
Fanart Law (Comic Con panel): • DeviantArt Conventions...
Characters and Copyright: www.aspectlg.com/posts/copyri...
Inspiration vs Stealing: www.artslaw.com.au/articles/e...
Misconceptions about Intellectual Property: io9.gizmodo.com/10-things-eve...
Copyright vs Trademark: www.legalzoom.com/articles/co...
Toby Fox allows sale of unofficial Undertale merch/fanart: undertale.tumblr.com/post/1397...
Using somebody's likeness (varies a lot depending on country/state law): www.owe.com/resources/legalit...
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Materials:
Pastelmat (light green)
Polychromos
Derwent Drawing
Caran d'Ache Luminance
Derwent Artists Black and White 6 set
Derwent Electric Eraser
Kum Automatic Longpoint handheld pencil sharpener (I really need to change the blades on this, it broke my pencils a number of times during filming. ;_; )
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Reference: From the lovely Aschi of Paint My Photo:
pmp-art.com/aschi/gallery/143...
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Music:
Calm- Silent Partner
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Find me on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and RedBubble! - Навчання та стиль
Very helpful thank you. I’ve been so confused with copyright and this helped me
Thank You Claudia, i'm so Please you've take the time to explain what copyright is and i hope with your video everyones will respect the artwork of any Artist, using the Art of an Artist and get credit for it's Horrible. Every Artists worked so Hard and when gthey Kindly share thei colouring, Drawing ect. well i do copy the coloring with the tutorial but when i post a picture i always gave credit to the Artist who made the tutorial. Respect, Honnest, and be fair id the Key to recieved the best from the best Artists!
Thank you for watching and commenting, Sylvie! :D So happy you enjoyed the video!
You're so very welcome dear Claudia!
I have learnt a lot about this since becoming a curator on Art Amino, as we have to deal with this daily! This was very useful! Also very pretty ladybird!
Thank you so much, Katy! I'm so glad you think it's useful given your experience on the matter :D
Note: *I am not a lawyer!* I can only provide general information- i.e. the way I believe and understand things to work.
*If you need specific legal advice about a specific situation, I recommend getting in contact with a legal professional!*
My rule of thumb is to not take any risks if you're concerned about copyright infringement. I wouldn't want to encourage anything that gets anybody into trouble.
Thank you for the Informations! And your Art is soo beautiful! I love it! : ) Greets from Germany Claudia
You're very welcome, glad you liked my video :)
Okay, as far as protection for a work / creation upon it being made, is that for when legal bindings have already took place to protect it or is that a safety net in place even without set trademarks for that property?
Works automatically are protected by copyright upon creation. You don't need to apply for anything or deal with any lawyers for this to happen.
So for example, I've never applied for copyright or dealt with a lawyer in regards to copyright. But it still would be copyright infringement if somebody was to upload my work somewhere without my permission. Or I could still sue for copyright infringement if somebody was to take a copy of my work and sell prints of it without my permission.
You can register for a copyright (which costs money) which may give you extra protections. In the US for example it means that you can demand certain costs to be covered by the infringing party (if I recall correctly).
Trademark is different from copyright- trademark is protection for a design (or other intellectual property) that identifies a product or service- like a brand's logo, a name or slogan, even a particular shade of colour.
What about icon use vs image use? For example, if I was to make a painting of Mickey Mouse or Mario, but the composition (the colors, the pose, the background, even if I changed what they were wearing altogether, or if i went even further and changed the actual design of the character to the point to where it was my own style) was my own original, would that still fall under copyright? The reason I'm asking is because ive seen plenty of artists (famous tattoo artists, fine artists such as KAWS, etc.) that do this with various video game, tv, or movie characters, yet none of them have gotten in trouble for copyright, and I HIGHLY doubt that they have gotten permission from the companies that created those characters to use their images (I could be wrong, but I doubt I am). Thanks.
Characters can be trademarked. Yes, often fan-art is technically copyright/trademark infringement, but it's up to the IP holder to decide whether you're worth pursuing. It's a risk many people take. I have a link in the description for a video where a copyright lawyer explains fan-art.
What does “draw from” mean? As in drawing a picture of the image rather than pulling inspiration from certain attributes of it? Such as, if I was inspired by an idea in the image
Like a picture of a cat, and I decide “I want a character with cat ears” and I am only grabbing the attribute of the animal
Is that different than referencing as in flat out drawing the work somebody else made?
Thank you! 12:23 answered my question!
Beautiful video and artwork!!!! Great job!
Thank you very much! :)
I wonder if anyone can help me out. I made a film... me taking people on a tour of historic places in my town... I want to use historic photos but I'm afraid the museum who owns them will say no. If they say no, would my artist friend be allowed to draw these old buildings in the photos that the museum owns? I can check out a book that has all these photos in it and my friend could draw the buildings in the photos. The museum did not take the photos but they own these historic photos.
There's a lot of unknowns here that are going to affect the legalities and who has permissions/can give permissions.
Rather than me speculating, I'd suggest asking the museum- and asking if the photos are in the "public domain". If they say no, (or that they can't allow you to use them), don't use them. Perhaps there are royalty free alternatives to be found online if you personally aren't able to take your own reference photos of these buildings.
Another interesting fact is that some buildings are copyright (depending on age and local laws). This video provides some insight about the possible laws attached. ua-cam.com/video/M16CGK1T9MM/v-deo.html
Hi Claudia, I have a question, if I take an art lesson and a painting is created from the class; however, same reference object and composition are also being used by other students. So when I and my classmate trying to sell that painting would that be seen as copyright infringement. Because i have seen a lot of identical painting sold online and they all say they own the copyright. thanks.
Ask the teacher! If the teacher owns the copyright to the reference image, then you as students copying that image could have limited rights with what you can do with artwork made using that image.
Very informative video. Thank you.
Ramona D Thank you Ramona! :D
Beautiful drawing Claudia. I recently came across two collage artists who had both done a series of works based on shoes. Their works were so alike. I think artists do conceptually arrive at similar points of topic. How would you know though whether copyright had been infringed or whether it was purely coincidental. I try and keep conceptual drawings and thoughts about images as they develop, but even this may not always be sufficient.? What are your thoughts about using purchased papers in collage? I often use and love fabrics and paper decoupage napkins in my work? Love to know what you think. Thanks as always. Marion
Thank you, Marion!
I agree, a lot of people arrive at a similar result completely coincidentally. I don't think there's an infinite amount of ideas that a person could come upon, and there are a lot of us human beings around- it just seems like a statistical likelihood that people could have the same idea. If two artists share similar inspirations and influences then it's certainly possible for them to land on similar outcomes. See the link I included about Inspiration vs Stealing in the description box- at least in Australian law there has to be some kind of reasonable proof that one person copied from another's work- if it was just a chance occurence then the person didn't copy the other artist's work. But like I said, I'm not a copyright lawyer and I don't really know the specifics, or what sort of protection there is for chances like this.
As for patterned paper, it's going to somewhat depend on the permissions the manufacturer has given for them. It seems though you're safe to use craft papers for artwork and commercial use providing you have used the paper as part of something as its intended purpose, and you haven't just taken a picture of the unused paper to reproduce or have printed on merchandise.
Collages are derivative works which is why I'm a bit tentative to talk too much about them- the issue is very complicated and the work has to be "different enough" in order for it to be copyrightable. There's no objective measure, and I don't want to pose my subjective/lay-person view as how something would be evaluated legally. There is also something called "de minimis" where you are allowed to use a copyrighted work if only a small portion is used (and not the defining element of the work), but just like it needing to be "different enough" this is going to be relatively subjective and it's hard to guarantee that you're safe.
I would only suggest using material for collages that you have the rights to (like patterned papers, royalty free references, your own photographs etc). That way you know you are fully working within the law.
Here's a really good website that I recommend checking out, seems to be very thorough to me : www.ovenall.com/copyright/derivative.htm
If it's ok by you I'd like to include your question in the future Q&A as I think it's a really useful and interesting one and an angle I hadn't thought of. :)
American courts determine if copyright infringement has occurred in two similar works by first asking if the defendant had access to the work that was allegedly infringed. If access cannot be demonstrated, then the two works have to be virtually the same ("strikingly similar") for a court to find that infringement occurred. But if there was access, then a lower standard called "substantial similarity" is used. Exactly how "substantial similarity" is determined is quite complex and different tests are used by different regional (circuit) courts in the U.S. For example, one commonly used test asks if an ordinary observer would be predisposed to overlook the differences and see the same overall aesthetic in the two works.
Obviously courts do their best to distinguish ripoffs from pure coincidences and not punish artists for the latter. But humans are fallible and good lawyering could perhaps sway a judge or jury in certain circumstances towards an erroneous verdict. So it is unfortunately conceivable for an artist to get into legal trouble simply for creating something that is coincidentally too close to another work they have never encountered. This is fortunately an extremely rare event, but it's not impossible either.
I need help! I made my own character but the only thing I took from them was the name.. the character itself is original and the story of the character is somewhat similar but how I put it together is different. My character as in my profile story’s is about finding a place to call home and the book I got inspired from is about getting lost and trying to find his colony.
Should I call the character as my own? Or do I have to change the name?
I would recommend changing the name. While the names of popular characters are not normally copyrighted because they only consist of one or two words, these are often trademarked. Creating your own character that shares the name of a trademarked character within the same genre can get you in trouble, especially if the name is highly distinctive and not a common one like "Michael" or "Fred." So it's best to give your original character an original name.
Photios ok thanks!
♡
Is making fanart for UA-cam videos legal???? How do channels like @drawholic can get away with this?
I know I’m two years late but I just watched and have a question. Let’s say you have a photograph of something from the past, your own Polaroid, but in that photo you are wearing a Jersey which has a logo and team or even drinking let’s say a Coke. Are you allowed to publish that art? The image is your own but the logos obviously are not.
Thank you for this video, you confirmed everything I thought about copyright. It's so important that you talk about this, because so many people really truly believe that using someone else's artwork (be it a photograph or anything else) without proper permission is ok. It's not, it's theft, plain and simple. We as artists should have no tolerance for theft, because like you said, copyright protects us and our work too.
I'm like you, I use only royalty free and copyright free images when I do finished work, but sometimes I will use copyrighted images for sketches and studies, just for my own learning. But I do not ever share these studies online. I think I'm ok here, maybe you could help? If I learn stingray anatomy from sketching copyrighted images, can I use the knowledge I gain in a finished piece as long as I am not directly referencing those photos? Idk... If this is still wrong I'll stop but it seems like a grey area to me.
Sorry for the novel, and thanks again for the video! I love the pretty beetle you drew 🐞🐞🐞
Thank you so much! I'm glad that it's well received and useful!
Your use of reference images to understand stingray anatomy is perfectly fine- as long as you are not copying that photograph's expression of a stingray, you can use it for your piece. Stingray anatomy itself isn't copyrighted after all!
It becomes a problem when the stingray you've drawn has a strong resemblance to the reference you've used.
I will occassionally use secondary supporting references- for example, if a commission client approaches me with a not-so-great photo for a dog portrait, I'll scour the internet for a similar looking dog in the same position/lighting in order to help understand fur direction and detailing etc.
Like you said though, the reference in this case is used to build up an understanding of the subject, and not to directly draw/copy from.
I still prefer to find a royalty free reference for this when possible (like I said, better safe than sorry!), but it's not absolutely necessary.
I'll include your question in the follow-up Q&A video if you don't mind- it's a brilliant question and a very useful one too :)
And don't apologise for the novel- I love long comments.... as perhaps made apparent by my own, hehe!
Claudia Sketches oh fantastic! I always to to use royalty free images even for studies, but sometimes it can be hard. Thank you for clarifying, im super glad that what I'm doing is on the right side of fair use. Thank you for your lovely reply, and you are most welcome to use my question in your video, I would be honoured 😊
The general rule is that facts are not copyrighted. Only the specific way they are presented and expressed are. There is nothing wrong with obtaining facts about stingray anatomy from copyrighted images and expressing those same facts in an original drawing that doesn't replicate their creative choices (e.g. poses, lighting conditions, background). Just to be on the safe side, you could go one step further and seek out old illustrations of stingrays and their anatomical features from 19th century zoological texts that are in the public domain and have been digitized and placed online at sites like the Internet Archive. Then it would not matter how much you copy from those illustrations because they no longer have a copyright owner.
So if I was to draw a from a reference picture and tried to replicate it, would my work be considered copyrighted?
I believe that would depend on your permissions/rights to use the original reference image
Replicating a reference picture in your drawing is making a "derivative work." Copyright owners have the exclusive right to authorize derivative works, so you would be violating the copyright in that picture unless you had the owner's explicit permission (or the picture is in the public domain). And yes, if you do have permission so that your drawing is legal, then you own the copyright in your own drawing, subject to any terms and conditions the owners of the reference picture required in giving you permission.
Even if you don't have permission, you are allowed to draw _some_ aspects taken from copyrighted reference pictures, but not all of them. Facts about our natural world such as the layout of a landscape or the appearance of an animal are not copyrighted because nobody can own these. For example, if you wanted to draw an animal, you could use copyrighted reference pictures to make sure you are depicting its features and proportions correctly. But other aspects of a particular reference image like the animal's pose, the perspective from which the picture is taken, the lighting conditions and the background involve creative choices made by the photographer and together contribute to the copyright in that image. Replicating these would infringe copyright. What matters is that you take only facts from your reference picture and use those to create an original drawing that nobody will think rips off that picture. I hope this has answered your question.
do I have to asks jamie oliver if I can cook one of his meals and show it to my friends online ????
Do you know if it is breaking copyright law if you use an actual page of a magazine in a homemade journal if you are going to sell it? Thank you so much!!
My understanding of copyright law is that it's the reproduction of images that copyright protects. If you cut up images from a magazine to add a design to a journal, because you own/bought the magazine, you have rights to use that physical copy of the magazine. Things would get complicated if you were to photograph the journal, because then you'd be making copies of the photo you don't have the rights to.
Personally, I think I'd take the worry out of it and just use a copyright free photograph or one I've taken myself.
Copyright for collage artists seems to be even more complicated and in the "grey area". Works are defended by their creators by being labelled as derivative. (This is a great website to check out and click through, lots of info: www.ovenall.com/copyright/index.html
(Added disclaimer: I'm not a copyright lawyer, this is just things I've found out online- and things could be different depending on your area)
Claudia Sketches Thank you for taking the time to respond to my question! I know you are not a lawyer and will not hold you to it! I do appreciate what you are doing!! You are awesome!!💕
You're very welcome! If you find out anything about the topic yourself, I'd love to hear :)
😀
Great advice & great art work also,
Thank you very much, Dexter! Glad you liked it :)
Great video 👍
Hi Claudia. More on the subject of copyright breach. I stumbled across a blog by Mary on (oilpastelsbymary.com). Here she states how (big name) companies have stolen her seascape works and removed her signature and replaced with their own. It's an eye opening read if anyone is interested. Also, I checked With Arts Law in Australia and the law around collages works seems very much the same. Thanks Marion
Marion Wigzell That's certainly not unheard of, clothing companies (Forever 21 comes to mind) has been known to rip off other people's designs or just flat out take somebody's art from the Internet and print it on their products. It happens unfortunately. I'm not sure about how to defend oneself in this situation, I think the first thing I'd do is seek a lawyer's advice.
I'm not an artist but I'm trying to find ways to make money online while finding a job by selling my art Abstracts. I know copyright exists the moment you create the work but I'm honestly afraid of people profiting off my artwork without my permission. I wanna register my artwork with the US copyright office but I didn't know you have to pay. I honestly don't wanna pay anything just wanna sell my artwork
Great video. You really know your topic!
Unfortunately Ricky didn't share my drawing on Instagram, he just liked it. Still, I feel like we're buddies now! Haha
By the way, why have you put tape (?) on the ends of some of your Polychromos pencils?
I realised that I made the mistake once I recorded the VO and was editing but I was like..." eh, close enough" :P Still awesome to have a piece liked by the celebrity it depicts! :D
Thank you very much, and thank you for allowing me to share your story despite not getting it quite 100% correct.
You are more than welcome. I am excited to be referred to in your video if anything. That is yet another celebrity acknowledgement achieved from that portrait. ;) Goes to show how good it is to ask photographers for permission.
What's smaller than a minor celebrity though- a... micro celebrity? A nano celebrity?
And it sure does! Better to take actions that will positively reflect back on you as an artist/human being than take a shadier route.
I found a fabric pattern I like, what about using fabric as a reference point?
By fabric pattern, do you mean an image printed on a fabric?
This will be protected by copyright law. There are some cases where it could be considered fair use or transformative, but personally I'd steer clear of it as it is risky business.
Reproducing a very specific pattern could be a problem (e.g. a Laura Ashley floral design), but something more generic (like houndstooth) would be safer.
For more specific patterns I'd recommend making your own. Making a one-off portrait of somebody wearing a distinctive pattern would probably go unnoticed, but making prints of a character wearing this design (or mass producing it some way) is more likely to draw attention if it is a problem. This might even be more of a problem if the pattern is famous somehow (like Burberry Check), as this recognisable element would be potentially increasing/contributing to your sales. This might even go into being a trademark issue, I'm not entirely sure.
It's wise to steer clear of any fabric pattern that might still be under copyright protection, whether it be an image printed on to a fabric or a complex geometric design. On the other hand, if you come across a relatively simple/generic geometric or abstract fabric pattern, it's unlikely to be copyrighted. For something like a fabric pattern to receive copyright protection, it requires a significant original expression of creativity. Considering that fabrics and woven materials have existed for many thousands of years, most of the simpler geometric patterns have already been done long ago. Speaking of which, if you want to draw inspiration from fabric patterns, I would suggest researching textiles and fabrics from the 19th century and earlier. Anything from these earlier eras should be in the public domain and hence free for you to use. (P.S. I'm not a lawyer and nothing said here is legal advice.)
HI THERE I AM A NAIL ARTIST AND I CREATE MANY DESIGNS THAT GET REPLICATED WITHOUT CREDIT OR CONSENT FROM ME
I GIVE CREDIT TO THOSE WHO INSPIRE ME FOR OTHER WORK IVE DONE LIKE CARTOONS IVE HANDPAINTED OF CHARACTERS THAT ARE NOT MINE
BECAUSE MY WORK IS CONSTANTLY RECREATED NO ONE KNOWS WHO THE ORIGINAL IDEA CAME FROM WHICH IS FRUSTRATING AND NOW THOSE WHO COPIED MY IDEA ARE RECEIVING COMPLIMENTS AS IF THEYRE THE CREATOR WHEN THEY WERE INSPIRED BY MY WORK OR SOMEONE ELSE WHO TOOK MY IDEA..
👍🏽👍🏽👍🏽🙏🏽
Thank you for your response Claudia. Very insightful, and you are welcome to use whatever you would like from our discussion. 😊
Any time, glad I could help :) Thank you!