Copyrighted Content

I'd suggest original work. These characters are worth millions to the trademark owners and no doubt they hire a law team to protect their value.

It's up to you to do some due diligence. It's not our butts on the line, but do you think Marvel might want to protect their trademarks

I would say that you are in very risky territory, if not at flat out risk of violating trademarks or copyrights.

Start reading about copyright, trademarks, and publicity rights with respect to recognizable drawings of people.

those are all copyrighted to marvel i believe. you would have to contact them for permission to sell a likeness. they may be drawn by you. but your using their fame to gain attention to your work. your better off making up your own art and making that.

its the same thing with actors, they have a right to use their own face the way they want. your using their fame to sell, which is wrong. i think you as an artist should be making your own work and not relying on things that already have fame.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Toni, don't take this the wrong way, but unless you want to read several hundred posts, none of them agreeing with one another, and none of the worth the powder to blow them to a hot place, you may want to close the thread and just go put copyright in the search on the Discussions home page.

No one in FAA is a copyright lawyer so all of the differences of opinions are going to add up to zero.

About everything that can possible be said about the question has been said about a thousands time in the previous threads. And that is in just the last week or so. lol This comes up almost daily anymore.

You are already getting a taste of what I am talking about.

Since the last thread on this topic came up, I have been taking an informal survey form the Recently Sold pages. As it stands right now, about 13% of the sold prints on FAA are of the nature you are asking about.

The bottom line is no one in FAA except the management has any business telling you what you should and should not sell. But that will no stop them from doing it. lol

This has been asked about around 5 times in the past couple of weeks alone :( But here again is FAA's stance

Yes, you may load those as long as you have read our Terms of Use and they are applicable

http://fineartamerica.com/termsofuse.html?document=contributortermsofuse

Representations and Warranties

.......(C) The Images and all parts thereof are owned and/or controlled by You, unencumbered and original works and are capable of copyright protection in all countries where copyright or similar protection is available;
(D) If the Images contain any human likeness from which an individual may be identified, You own or have acquired all rights to use such human likenesses;

you don't need a lawyer for this one. taking someone else's art and making it your own, without permission from the original owner, or getting a license for it - is illegal - or whatever the correct term is. everyone is currently on the same page here.

the stuff sold here -- would not sell any place else. it doesn't make it right either.

should and should not sell - i think marvel has more to say about that, then anyone else.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Photography Law http://pixels.com/showmessages.php?messageid=2490299

This one of the last threads on this topic. It says Photography Law but most of it pertain to paintings. The title is misleading because real "law" is the last thing you will get here. lol

Keep in mind what I said, there are no copyright lawyers here, only those that play them on FAA. lol

And NO, not everyone is on the same page here Mike, do NOT pretend to speak for me, thank you.

https://www.plagiarismtoday.com/2010/05/13/the-messy-world-of-fan-art-and-copyright/

i found a link that seems pretty useful


floyd... who is speaking for you?

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

this is the staying safe list:

Staying Safe

If you’re interested in creating fan fiction or fan art, here are a few quick things I would say to do to make sure you don’t find yourself in a copyright or trademark conflict.

1. Check the Rules: Look for the rules of whatever you’re a fan of. Fan art and fan fiction communities often have guidelines and some authors have made public statements on the issue. Do some research before creating and uploading.

2. Make it Clearly Unofficial: Have clear statements on your site that your site and your work is not an official site and is just a fan creation. Though it may not help with an actual trademark or copyright dispute, it shows good faith and encourages rightsholders to work with you.

3. Be Non-Commercial: This is an element of the unspoken rule, but try to be completely non-commercial with your works, no selling copies, no sponsorships, no advertisements.

4. Be Careful with Domains: Be mindful that your domain can become a trademark issue if it leads others to think that you might be an official site. Make it clear with your domain that it is a fan creation.

5. Comply with Requests: If the creator or an agent on their behalf makes a request of you, obey it. If it’s a polite request, complying helps avoid a less-than-polite request later and builds a good rapport. If it is a more stern one, it is even more important to comply.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Mike Savad8 Minutes Ago
you don't need a lawyer for this one. taking someone else's art and making it your own, without permission from the original owner, or getting a license for it - is illegal - or whatever the correct term is. everyone is currently on the same page here.

Don't you even know what you post here?

i said what i said, you said that everyone would be disagreeing. and i said, that thus far everyone is in agreement... i'm not sure why your confused her.

---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

Will it be ART, as opposed to decoration for t-shirts and coffee mugs?



Lichtenstein's painting, titled "I Can See the Whole Room... And There's Nobody In It!" recently sold for $43.2 million.



This is the original comic panel Lichtenstein used for reference. It was drawn by William Overgard.

Lichtenstein has also painted Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, Popeye and many other comic book images. Most of Lichtenstein's best-known works are relatively close, but not exact, copies of comic book panels. Lichtenstein did not credit, pay any royalties to, or seek permission from the original artists or copyright holders.

NOTE: These are merely facts, and the information provided here is for educational purposes only. If you have legal concerns or need legal advice, be sure to consult with an attorney.


Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

Why I am confused? Really?

You make a blanket statement like; "everyone is currently on the same page here." When I clearly am not and never have been on the same page with your postilion on copyright, and you think I am the one confused? That's rich! lmao

Let me ask you, when did you get your law degree? Or have they changed the rules to where just anyone can give legal advice now?

As I said above, since that last thread (the one I posted above) was closed I have been watching the recently sold images. 13% of them would fall under your idea of being illegal images.

Are you sure you want to be calling all of the artists representing all of those images crooks?

How well does that work for FAA in the google search?

your only looking for an argument.

you don't need a law degree to know that taking someone else's artwork is wrong. simple as that.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

"you don't need a law degree to know that taking someone else's artwork is wrong. simple as that."

The art world at large and art buyers with the biggest wallets disagree with your uninformed, one-size-fits-all opinion, Mike. Simple as that.


Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

legal or not. its not ethical to take someone else's hard work and make a profit from it. if you want to really call yourself an artist, make it from scratch.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

"legal or not. its not ethical to take someone else's hard work and make a profit from it. if you want to really call yourself an artist, make it from scratch."

Mike, lighten up. You digitally paint over photos (AKA someone else's hard work) you didn't take. "If you want to really call yourself an artist, make it from scratch." Seriously? Is there ANYTHING in your portfolio that you made from scratch? Pot kettle black, dude!


Dan Turner
Dan Turner's Seven Keys to Selling Art Online

These are discussion threads. They are not "Mike will say it and everyone has to agree with it" threads.

You can call it what you want, but I am not ever going to sit back and let you intimidate people whit your out house legal degree. Not to mention your paranoia.

And have you even looked at his work? He is NOT taking someone else's artwork. These are his original drawings. Rater or not they will stand up too the scrutiny of the copyright laws is NOT for you to say. You have NO legal standing. The rules on FAA are very clear.

Again, I ask you, are you ready to say that the 13% of the art on the recent sold list are all illegal? Are all those artist breaking the law? All of them will fit in under the umbrella of the different set of standards YOU have set in this and the last thread.

But what legal standing do you base your opinion on?

"legal or not. its not ethical to take someone else's hard work and make a profit from it. if you want to really call yourself an artist, make it from scratch. "

Oh, so now you are going to appoint yourself the moral compass that all of us must follow on FAA?

That too is rich! lmfao!!!

Are you making all of those public domain images from scratch? No, I didn't think so!

Let's explore this for a second.

Mike, If I take a full color copyright image, and revers what you are doing, does make it my image? Can I put my nave on it?

If you take one piece of art, and create another piece based on it... that's called a derivative work. One of the copyrights that the copyright owner holds, exclusively -- which means the rest of us who don't own the copyright don't get to do it without permission, is the right to make derivative works.

As in most areas of law, there are exceptions. "Parody" and "educational purposes" are two frequently invoked "fair use" exceptions.

For a lot of good information on copyright in the United States... see www.copyright.gov, which is published by the US government copyright office.

Bottom line is, if you want to make & sell copies of comic characters that someone other than you created, it's a very, very good idea to get permission (or be very certain you don't need permission) before you go there. Penalties for copyright infringement can get very expensive. There can also be trademark issues (an area of law that's different from copyright, not covered by the information you find on www.copyright.gov.)

Disclaimer: As always, not legal advice, just a personal opinion.

no floyd, you can't. taking someone else's art work that is still in copyright, doesn't make it yours because you changed it. and why your still arguing... who knows.... taking a public domain image and selling that - that's ok. not the other way around. artwork by comic book authors are still art, and still copyrighted, and are also trademarks. will they sue? probably not, not good for PR, yet, they can still make an example.

the fact that the op posted this he has doubts himself. why copyright issues cause so many arguments here is just a head scratcher. it seems simple enough for me to go to marvel and such and ask permission to make and sell fan art on a small basis. then at least he's covered and knows ahead of time that he may not get in trouble down the line. if you think you won't be contacted by a lawyer, you can think again. as i have in the past over a simple title of an image.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

That is correct Cheryl, and you of all people, should know that there are no consistent rulings on these matters coming out of the courts and each case is decided by a judge on a case by case bases.

And that assumes you can ever get a lawyer to take it to a judge and get a judge to hear the case.

As I have said before, I have been to court three times on these kinds of matters. In all three cases, the six clients and the six lawyers were all shocked and disappointing of the judges ruling.

The bottom line, there is probably only one chance in millions of millions that a case is eve going to see a court room.

I think a big reason we are all of sudden getting all this fear and paranoia is that sales for some are off and they want to run people out of FAA. lol..... Okay, I am only kidding.... or am I? :-)

Surely you guys notice that these threads all reach the same point where no one else is really contributing

Seriously?

The ONLY message in this thread that means anything on this site was from our Terms of Use, Toni

If I see another example of this in another thread I will have no recourse but to remove anyone arguing