You Made a Collage, But That Doesn't Give You Rights In the Underlying Work

/
You Made a Collage, But That Doesn't Give You Rights In the Underlying Work

The longer I practice law, the more I recognize certain “seasons” in my work; sometimes I’ll have a period where all my clients are filmmakers. Perhaps six months will go by where all my work revolves around trademarks in some way. Maybe I’ll have ten people in a row ask me about indemnity clauses. Lately many of my clients or prospective clients are visual or graphic artists producing collages. And they all want to know the same thing: can they use the work of others in their collages?

Read More

Repost: You Can’t Copyright Style

/
Repost: You Can’t Copyright Style

Shortly after Star Wars: The Force Awakens came out, something happened that no one could have possibly predicted: people started making fan art. Shocking I know, but in a world where Donald Trump is the leading Republican candidate for President, I’m not sure anything’s a surprise anymore. Anyway, among those artists was Disney and Marvel illustrator Brian Kesinger. But Kesinger wasn’t interested in your run of the mill fan art. He wanted to do something special. The result of his labor: a series of adorable illustrations of Kylo Ren, Han Solo, Leia, and Darth Vader from The Force Awakens done in Bill Watterson’s inimitable style. Kesinger not only nailed the famed Calvin and Hobbes look, he also got Watterson’s voice.

Read More

On Whether You Can Use Someone Else's Copyrighted Work As Reference Material For Your Own

/
On Whether You Can Use Someone Else's Copyrighted Work As Reference Material For Your Own

"As part of my (illustration) process, I source and screenshot or drag images of people, places, and things from Google (usually stock photos) which I then combine and trace to create my illustrations. It would be hard for any of these stock photos to be identified outright in my work, as they are mainly used as the skeleton for postures and environments in my drawings. They are transformed by my invention of things like clothes and other details, and by my linework 'style.' What do you think of this? Am I doing anything legally risky?"

Read More

Repost: Yes Trademark Fair Use Exists!

/
Repost: Yes Trademark Fair Use Exists!

How you reference an existing brand will dictate whether you become liable for trademark infringement or public disparagement of the brand, but there are carve-outs in trademark law that allow you to fairly reference an existing trademark without being liable for infringement. Yes you heard me right; trademark fair use exists!

Read More

You Made a Collage, But That Doesn't Give You Rights In the Underlying Work

/
You Made a Collage, But That Doesn't Give You Rights In the Underlying Work

The longer I practice law, the more I recognize certain “seasons” in my work; sometimes I’ll have a period where all my clients are filmmakers. Perhaps six months will go by where all my work revolves around trademarks in some way. Maybe I’ll have ten people in a row ask me about indemnity clauses. Lately I’ve been in a season where clients are visual or graphic artists producing collages. And they all want to know the same thing: can they use the work of others in their collages?

Read More