After viewing a few works around RB tonight, I felt compelled to determine two things:
1. If it is legal to use, edit, or alter photographs of other professional or nonprofessional photographers or artists. This includes photographs of paintings.
2. If it legal to resell imagery/photographs of other professional or nonprofessional photographers or artists.
I was unsure if it were legal/appropriate to make a profit from a composition, montage, mosaic, or crop parts of an original photograph.
I viewed a lot of interesting ‘images’ that comprised of montage, mosaic and composition work , and asked: “Is it truly legal to sell this without the permission of the original photographer or artist?” I’ve seen a few montages that incorporate record-covers into interesting circular formations. It looks nice, but is it legally allowed to be sold? There’s no question you can create it and store it on your own computer, but can you sell it to others if you are not the originating artist? Your work might be original … but the images used to create it are someone else’s!
A lot of googling, reading, researching has gone for the past THREE HOURS. Verbal debate with my wife on the matter was interesting. We both agreed and disagreed on a number of issues. Thus, I had to compile the list of sites we read through…
These web sites may help you to determine if ‘imagery’ may or may not be able to be sold through Redbubble:
01. Legal Pitfalls in Taking or Using Photographs of Copyright Material, Trademarks and People
This one is VITALLY important we all read, specifically Section 1.5
1.5 Will you do something that actually constitutes an act which the copyright owner has the exclusive right to make?
As indicated earlier, photographing a copyright work is considered a way of reproducing the work, and this is an act which the copyright owner has the exclusive right to do. This is why you may need to get prior permission to include a copyright work in your shot. Some other activities that only the copyright owner has the exclusive right to do (and for which you may need permission) are:
1. Making prints of a work, scanning it into digital form, photocopying it, copying digital works, etc.;
2. Making a collage from several different photographs or images;
3. Adding new artistic elements to an existing work (e.g., colorizing a black and white picture);
4. Photographing someone’s work and then displaying the photo to the public (e.g., exhibiting the photo in a gallery, supplying copies to the public in postcard form, putting it on a website, sending it to customers via email, etc.).
02. Publicity Celebrities and Photographs … 15 Minutes of Fame Is A Property Right By Andrew Hudson, PhotoSecrets.com
03. Business of Scanning Art and reselling , Photo.net, July 2004
04. The Law for Photographers: Do I Need Permission? An Introduction to the Legal Aspects of Travel Photography , By Dianne Brinson, copyright attorney for PhotoSecrets.com
05. Copyright : It Costs You Nothing
06. Digital Manipulation of Photography
07. What is Copyright Protection
08. The Australian Commonwealth Consolidated Acts … Copyright Act 1968
09. All of Andrew Nemeth’s Articles and Essays . These make great reading. I started writing this article at about 10.00am. It’s now 1.40am, and my mind is filled with new information that has revolutionised my thoughts about photographing people in public places!
10. Privacy Laws, Commonwealth of Australia
Before you react, I don’t mean to be a killjoy.
I applaud the amazing efforts and creativity of the people that spend time producing their work. But I also want you to know what is appropriate and fair use of intellectual property on the internet. You might find yourself in a lot of hot water if you don’t take a read of the websites listed above!
So take care when you the following statement on a web page, in a book or wherever … “All images and content on these pages are the exclusive property of name of artist. They may not be saved copied reproduced or used for any reason without written permission from name of artist.”
Take care when you present the image of a celebrity within your montage. They may not appreciate you making money at their expense. Would you like to go up against Bono, dollar for dollar? I suspect he can afford bigger lawyers.
This post also is a follow up piece to the previous article of a similar nature Laws Against Defacing Art
Robert Knapman, 9 months ago
Thanks Stephen. Well researched and when I have time will be well worth the read and effort I am sure. Great resources. Cheers
Stephen Mitchell, 9 months ago
Thanks Robert, my pleasure.
As I have said, the number one thing here is knowing your rights, obligations and legal responsibilities.
I particularly enjoyed reading Andrew Nemeth’s Articles and Essay . He writes and reads well, all of his information is written in an easy-
to-understand style that should keep you reading till the last word!