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05/24/2005 09:45:17 AM · #1 |
Are my Godzilla pix that I manipulate in PS to make a montage considered public domain?
I use only the image of the Godzilla, and Mothra from the 50's and 60's.
I sometimes get images from the internet, and sometimes I use pix of action figures that I have.
Looking forward to a professional answer.
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05/24/2005 09:47:37 AM · #2 |
What are you using it for?
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05/24/2005 09:50:30 AM · #3 |
Originally posted by neophyte:
What are you using it for? |
I am considering putting together a portfolio to show what I can do for potential customers.
I am also considering putting together a small pocket book with ALL my montages, including Godzilla and Mothra, and put up for sale.
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05/24/2005 10:03:54 AM · #4 |
Probably not public domain.
But what are the practical implications? Depends on how much money you make from them, or how much their image was worth and how much you have devalued it. If you are making no money out of them, and you don't damage the brand, then you are not going to receive anything more than a cease and desist letter asking you to remove the images from your website etc.
If you are making some cash, or damaging the Gozilla brand, then you might risk a call asking you hand over the profits, or pay damages for the loss of brand value.
If you receive the call and the owners either demand cash or the removal of the image, and you do not want to comply, you can take further steps to protect your rights. These will depend on your use of the images. The UK, and I am sure the US, would permit the use of images in a work of art under an exception to the normal rules. Hence Damien Hirst's reproduction on a huge scale of a Hornby owned anatomical model doll, which Damien Hirst received millions for, and to which Hornby ultimately had no claim.
If you are using the images in, say, commercial advertising, you would almost certainly not come under an exception. You would have to investigate who held what rights, and find out whether they have expired. This could be very complicated in practice, and it will depend very much on where you obtained your images from. For example, even if the film is 60 years old, and, say, the copyright to the film had expired, you might still have problems if you had taken a frame from a digitally remastered DVD released 5 years ago, as that DVD and the content on it would be protected separately and would still be within the relevant time limits. If you copied it from another website, that website would have a copyright interest in the particular .jpg file that you had copied and that would, strictly speaking, be protected itself. These rights have varying degrees of value (the digitally remastered Godzilla might be quite valuable, the precise format of one jpg against many others, might not).
So, while others often harp on about expiry of copyright being x years, it is very hard to find a hard and fast rule about whether something is "protected". In practice, copyrighted material that is no longer being exploited can be used with little risk, unless you intend to use it for significant gain (in which case you ought probably to license or buy the rights to use the image yourself to protect your income).
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05/24/2005 10:30:47 AM · #5 |
Leagalbeagle:
So does licensing the images involve a lawyer, or can I do that on my own?
How much of the image can I replace before it is considered not an original, and considered unique?
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05/24/2005 10:50:11 AM · #6 |
licensing is just "buying the right to use". You would have to find the owner(s) of rights in the images that you are using, contact them, and find out how much they would charge to let you use the image commercially. If it is worth a lot of money, lawyers would be involved only to document your deal.
I am not sure that I, personally, would bother: if they find out and are bothered, they might ask you to stop. Sounds like you are using the images as advertising for your skills, rather than as items for sale. If so, then:
What are you making out if the images? Pretty much nothing.
What damage are you causing the value of the original Godzilla image? It is probably not worth a huge amount, and you are probably not doing something to it that will cause the original to be less valuable, so probably nothing.
What is your loss if you are asked to stop? The time in creating some new pics.
What is the chance that anyone who cares will find out? Unless you have picked up the images from a sensitive source, pretty much zero.
Chances of it being a work of art and falling into an exception - pretty reasonable (UK, anyway).
So, low risk of being asked to stop, coupled with little or no financial risk: I wouldn't worry too much.
As for replacing various amounts - not completely sure in the US, but it will probably be a question of degree as to how much of an image you can copy (you can probably copy a "reasonable amount". The meaning of "reasonable" will vary with the circumstances). It is the copying that is important - your changes (unless they obliterate the original) will not necessarily reduce the risk of a complaint being made (beyond the obvious: it does not look like the original anymore and no-one will recognise that you have copied it!).
If you were in real doubts, rather than licensing an image, it would probably be cheaper to make a similar plasticine model yourself, take photos of that and PS it to look like the original!
Edit: spelling
Message edited by author 2005-05-24 11:46:21.
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05/24/2005 11:07:36 AM · #7 |
thank you for your time.
Message edited by author 2005-05-24 11:07:53.
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05/24/2005 11:25:11 AM · #8 |
no thanks required: just let me know your postal address and VAT reference number...
;)
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05/24/2005 11:40:57 AM · #9 |
| To legalbeagle: thank you. This is very illuminating and written in a language that we laymen could understand. |
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05/24/2005 12:41:30 PM · #10 |
Originally posted by legalbeagle:
no thanks required: just let me know your postal address and VAT reference number...
;) |
Billing through PayPal would seem apropos ... |
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