Two old pics and a question

Juano

I took these several years ago, playing with juxtaposition, I still kind of like them. My question on shots like these is about copyright, when does copyright cease to exist? None of the individual images are mine, but the overall comp is... Any feedback is appreciated (on the images and the copyright question).

Richard

Nice composites, especially the second. The whole is more than the sum of its parts.

Copyright law is fairly arcane and I'm certainly not qualified to give legal advice, but there are a few guidelines you can think about. First, unless your creation gains a lot of attention and makes a lot of money, it is pretty unlikely that anyone is actually going to take legal action. At most, you might get a DMCA takedown demand to remove the work from a web site. In general, works of art like yours are protected by the fair use doctrine, which permits derivative works that incorporate parts of copyrighted images, but that do not compete with the original work in the marketplace. You may also claim copyright to your composite, even if none of the components is yours to begin with (I think). Note however, that you might incur significant legal expense if you have to go to court to defend your rights and that winning the case will not necessarily mean you don't have to pay those costs.

In any event, if you're like me, you probably use Google Images to get raw material at times, and it has options that let you filter by license type:

First click on Tools, then Usage rights and select the option that fits your intentions best.

Whatever you do, don't use Mickey Mouse.

HTH.

Juano

Many thanks for your very detailed response Richard. I won’t use Mickey Mouse!

Cornflake

I used to advise clients about copyright law and handled several court cases involving copyright issues, but it's been quite a while. I don't disagree with Richard's comments but be aware that "fair use" can be a murky concept. Your first image, in particular, would make me uneasy if I'd done the juxtaposition and it would irk me if I'd created the painting (or whatever it is).

(PS: I have to be circumspect about answering because I'm now retired from lawyering and can't say anything that the State Bar would interpret as legal advice. If it weren't for that constraint I could be more helpful.)

Juano

@Cornflake said:
I used to advise clients about copyright law and handled several court cases involving copyright issues, but it's been quite a while. I don't disagree with Richard's comments but be aware that "fair use" can be a murky concept. Your first image, in particular, would make me uneasy if I'd done the juxtaposition and it would irk me if I'd created the painting (or whatever it is).

(PS: I have to be circumspect about answering because I'm now retired from lawyering and can't say anything that the State Bar would interpret as legal advice. If it weren't for that constraint I could be more helpful.)

Thanks for the comment Don. My question was more out of curiosity than anything else, so no worries there. On the first image the painting is a postcard of a painting of Gustav Klimt, what are the copyrights there? Anyway good discussion.

Cornflake

I'm pretty sure that I'm not practicing law by saying that, as I recall, the length of a copyright depends on each country's law. I would guess that the copyright on Klimt's work has expired simply because I don't recall any countries that allowed copyrights to extend that long. But if you use a photo of a Klimt work, the photographer may have a copyright on that particular photo. It's all murky enough that I steer clear of incorporating anyone else's creativity into my own.

By the way, Richard is correct that few copyright owners get cantankerous if a copyright violation doesn't make a lot of money for the violator. In the US, though, you can register a copyright. That can allow you to recover statutory damages even if you can't prove actual damage. I registered a copyright once for a piece of music I wrote after I observed repeated violations. I haven't sued anyone, though, and have no desire to do so.

Juano

Thanks again for the info.