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Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#1 Old 25th Jan 2005 at 4:14 PM
Default The Use of Fine Art in Recolours
hello!

i know its illegal (& therefore not uploadable) to use copyrighted images in recolours etc. (such as winnie the pooh for example)...

...but what is the situation with fine art - like renaissance paintings or modern art? does anyone know whether this kind of image is copyrighted in any way? (such as until the artists' death...?)

i'm (hopefully) going to make a family of beatnick artists and a blues club to go with :D
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Test Subject
#2 Old 25th Jan 2005 at 5:11 PM
Most artwork that is older than somewhere around 90 years (depends on a lot of factors, but I seem to recall that 90 years is the baseline for copyright death) is in the public domain. There are some exceptions to that, where individuals have procured the ownership and rights to certain artworks (I believe Bill Gates has a bunch, for example), but by and large if it's that old it's fair game.

There is also "fair use," which would likely apply in this case. Meaning, using a modified, tiny image of a piece of art is a., highly unlikely to be noticed by anyone, and b., highly unlikely to fall outside of "fair use." That should also apply to more recent work, depending on the use of the image, whether or not you are profiting from it, and other factors such as the actual ownership of the item. For recent artwork I would personally likely review the site below to make sure I was on the safe side, especially if I planned to publicize my work in any way (including uploading it to a public site.)

See http://www.benedict.com for a much more complete discussion (for laymen, mostly) of copyright law.

-y
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#3 Old 25th Jan 2005 at 5:13 PM
thanks very much for that! soon's i have a minute i'll look that site up

...guess that means i won't be using much modern stuff huh?
Test Subject
#4 Old 25th Jan 2005 at 5:18 PM
Actually it is likely to be entirely fine to use modern work as well, but again, it really depends on the use.

If you look at this page, they have a great rundown of Fair Use. These two items are probably the most relevant:

Quote:
The third sub-factor (3) looks at the degree of transformation accomplished by the new work. In other words, this sub-factor seeks to determine whether the new work merely supplants the original, or whether it adds something new, with a further purpose or different character, thereby altering the first with new expression, meaning or message.


and

Quote:
The fourth factor considers the extent of harm to the market or potential market of the original work caused by the infringement. This test takes into account harm to the original, as well as harm to derivative works.


Essentially, as pertains to the second point, it would be nigh-impossible to create competition for an ACTUAL artwork by using it in the Sims. As pertains to the first point, the degree of transformation (the amount by which you have altered the work) is probably great enough to extend to Fair Use.

The first point in that page is also quite relevant ("the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes"), since if you are not financially gaining from another person's work it is considered in a very different light than if you are making actual cash moh-nay.

-y
Lab Assistant
Original Poster
#5 Old 25th Jan 2005 at 5:31 PM
that's a very good point - and the only reason i'd be uploading it would be in case anyone wanted to play with it, not for money...hmm, i wonder what the owners of this site would think/whether they'd accept any uploads?

maybe it would depend on the individual content...
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