Stop Sending Me Paintings of Magazine Photos!
Saturday November 15, 2008
I've said it before and no doubt will again in the future:
I know I'm not a copyright lawyer (nor do I aspire to be one), but you don't need to be to get the gist from the information provided by various international copyright agreements and local laws (e.g. Australia, UK, and USA).
Anyway, once again with feeling, I can't accept a painting based on a photograph you saw in a magazine (nor a book nor on a website) for a painting project gallery unless you have a photographer's permission to create a derivative work. And if you're thinking of simply not mentioning it, remember that under the user agreement, which applies when you submit a painting for a project gallery, you assume full responsibility for anything you grant About.com the right to publish. So think twice about it. There are plenty of places to find free photos you can happily paint from.
See Also:
• Artist's Copyright FAQ: Can I Make a Painting of a Photograph?
• Can I Make Paintings from Reference Photos in Field Guides?
• Where to Find Free Photos to Paint
Submissions based on magazine photos can't be added to a painting project gallery unless you have the permission of the copyright-holder (most likely the photographer) to create a derivative.A painting based on a photo is a derivative work, and you can't grant yourself the right to create one. It's not fair use. It's not okay because it's in a different medium. It's not okay because you changed 10 percent. It's not okay because you don't mind people copying your paintings.
I know I'm not a copyright lawyer (nor do I aspire to be one), but you don't need to be to get the gist from the information provided by various international copyright agreements and local laws (e.g. Australia, UK, and USA).
Anyway, once again with feeling, I can't accept a painting based on a photograph you saw in a magazine (nor a book nor on a website) for a painting project gallery unless you have a photographer's permission to create a derivative work. And if you're thinking of simply not mentioning it, remember that under the user agreement, which applies when you submit a painting for a project gallery, you assume full responsibility for anything you grant About.com the right to publish. So think twice about it. There are plenty of places to find free photos you can happily paint from.
See Also:
• Artist's Copyright FAQ: Can I Make a Painting of a Photograph?
• Can I Make Paintings from Reference Photos in Field Guides?
• Where to Find Free Photos to Paint
Comments
If I’m allowed to save my photo as an attachment on my computer I’m assuming
I can use parts of said photo in my painting.
For example, I downloaded pictures of galaxies from the NASA website.
Visitors to this site are even given downloading options such as the choice between copying a TIFF or JPEG file
and the same photo is displayed in different sizes suited for each
downloaders’ need. Again, I only use
parts of the photo along with my
imagination for the rest.
What say you? B
Being able to download a photo is not the same as having the right to do absolutely anything with it you wish, nor is it implied. You need to check the terms and conditions attached to the photograph on the website you find it.
And, yes, there is a difference between copying a photo and using photos for reference.
MoSt photos in magazines have been “Photoshoped” to some degree. This makes the prionted photo in the magazine a second generation ‘copy.’ If I paint a rendition or a ‘derivative’ of this second generation, my rendering is third generation. Is that a copyright infringement?
Whoever’s worked on the photo had permission to do so from either the photographer, the image agency the photo was bought from, or the magazine company owned the photo as work done for hire. Just because a photo was manipulated doesn’t change the copyright situation of the final product/photo. The second/third degree rendering is copyright myth.
Well said Marion.
There are masses of subjects which can be drawn/painted from life – and if people want to paint from a photo then the easiest thing to do is to draw/paint fron your own photos. That way you always know that you’re not doing anything wrong.
Plus using the media is only half the story of creating a painting. Creating and working out the composition is really important and this always tends to get missed out if working fron other people’s photos.
WOW. I didn’t know this! Good topic. I do a lot of collage work & I know I can’t use much of anything from magazines, newspapers, or the net. Most of the time it’s difficult to know the source of the photo.
There are some websites where you’re allowed to use their photos – some are free but most you have to pay a fee.
Can I use a photo for form reference? Such as if I’m painting a cow, can I use someone’s photo of a cow to see the form of cows or a horse,or a spacific breed of dog – it’s shape? Can form be copyrited?
Photos can most definitely be used for reference, but there’s a difference between using something for reference and copying a photo. Using a photo (or bunch of photos) to gather information, such as how a foal folds its legs when it lies down, and then applying this information in your own composition is one thing. Using one photo and painting the way the foal folds its legs, the color of its fur, the shadows, the identical grass around its feet, etc. etc., that’s not using a photo as reference.
I think it’s best to use a handful of photos for information gathering, to do sketches to internalise this information, and only then to start a painting, applying the information you now have to a composition that’s your own.
Ha! You tell ‘em Marion.
You even have to be careful coping a royality free photo. Most sites do exclude artwork as a use for these photos.
What they look at is the use of the composition of the photo. So you can use a photo to find out how many legs a cow has, but you cannot copy the composition of the photo completely. Everything published, and posting it on the web is considered publishing, is copyrighted by someone.
That a photo is manipulated does not decrease copyright, but in fact increases it, as it becomes much more a creative work.
One simple answer to this whole thing is just to ask.
If you find a photo on a website that you want to use as a reference in your painting, try emailing the photographer and asking them!
I do a lot of photography and have a lot of artist friends and personally, I was honored and amused when one of those friends asked to use a photo of my sleeping cat in a painting he was working on.
(The painting depicts a sleeping cat below images of a dream of ancient Egypt)