Not REALLY a copywrite question!! Still need help, though!

[Aarmano]

I did a picture of a swan on a quilt that I had gotten from a catalog selling actual pieces. These two items were displayed together and I liked the look. I changed the colors in the quilt and a little bit of the design, anyway, I wrote to the catalog and asked if I could sell the picture. They said I could sell it at shows and such, but not to the general public. They would not give me permission to submit it to a licensing company. I thought that it was not "infringement" if you had actually done an illustration of the products . . . plus, if they gave me permission to sell it at shows, what exactly do you think they meant by "general public"? HELP!

[V.Bleile]

Hi Angela,

I would imagine by "general public" in the way you described they meant mass produced. Along the same lines, I once contacted a photographer who had a truly amazing elk photo published in a magazine to ask for permission in using the image. He said it was fine if I wanted to paint it, even sell that painting, but he wouldn't give permission to reproduce it in print form as he wished to market the photo himself to a greater extent.

Vicki

[Lahree]

Like Vicki, my understanding of what they are telling you if that can not be mass-produced. Selling in a limited number seems to be ok to them, but they don't want you selling it to a company who is going to make numerous images with it--hence restricting you licensing it. As far as "infringement" is concerned, probably there reasoning is, you are still using their basic design to create your own. Even though you changed some colors, etc., it is still a representation of their creation even though it is not the same product (a quilt vs. a picture of a quilt), which is still a copyright violation.

Frustraiting, huh? :)

Lori