Thursday, July 14, 2011
Can I use someone else's photo to draw a picture from which I make money?
Can I use someone else's photo to draw a picture from which I make money?
If I come across a photo on the interweb (say, on a blog, or any website, really) can I draw it, then sell the drawings made from it? I want to draw a series of works using photos of people I find online, and I may end up selling those works. Is that legal? I live in Australia. Thanks!
Law & Ethics - 5 Answers
Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
Yes. A drawing you make is your intellectual property, an artistic creation that you alone control.
2 :
Yes that is fine.
3 :
You can, but they can still sue you if the image is too similar to the original photograph. I'm not saying they'll win, but you'll spend a lot of money on lawyers. Try to make your interpretation different enough that it won't even end up in court. .
4 :
You can, but if it is too similar, or if they get a better lawyer than you, you might lose in court. For instance, George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" was found to infringe on "He's So Fine", a Motown hit that is just barely similar. Neither common sense nor Krishna could carry the day in court. Unless you are trying to make an exact copy, I would think that a drawing would not be close enough to a photograph that it would infringe.
5 :
In the US, the answer is no. The law stated that you may not profit from the likeness of the person. If you can look at the drawing and identify who their person is in the drawing, you cannot publish and profit from the drawing without the persons consent. In all actuality, if they are not likely to ever see your drawing, you are not likely to get caught.
