Using inspiration from books.

[Edcello]

I have read many of the threads in this section before posting but couldn’t find one specifically to answer my question.

I’m a big reader and read a chapter from one of my favorite authors and thought “hey this would be a wonderful painting”. If you read a book and decide to draw or paint a scene from a chapter, is that a violation of copyright?

Thanks
Ed
Btw – I’m one of the new folks and absolutely love this website. It’s like attending an Artist conference with no end.

[amo]

Excellent question! I'd really like to hear the answer to that one, myself. I would imagine it's probably in the same category as all the other stuff- if it's from a book that's older than 70 years, or a story that's in the public domain (say, fairy tales), it's fair game?
And I'm certain you could get into hot water if you were to do (and sell) an illustration for a big ticket item, like, say, Harry Potter.

And by the way- welcome to WC! Watch it- this place is highly addictive.

amo

[timelady]

An interesting one... I think you're definitely alright with classics and such. Lots of artists have tackled themes like Shakespeare, Blake, Chaucer, etc. Lots of artiss also do sci-fi paintings inspired by books, where the subject might be a scene from the novel. Now, I'm not sure about it but I think this is okay. The issue is when a character or title is copyrighted or trademarked. For instance, Star Trek copyright and trademark is enforced strongly by Paramount. (or whoever is the owner now) Harry Potter characters are trademarked by Warner Bros. and possibly the publisher too. In general, if the book you read had also been made into a film, tv show or merchandising then someone has protected the trademark so it isn't safe to make a painting of it unless it's not that character exactly. An example of this could be the "A Series of Unfortunately Events" books which have illustrations nearly exactly like Harry Potter - but of course it's not. I thought about this a while and that's the answer I keeping coming up with - all the things that I'd imagine would get you into trouble have been licensed for other products, hence the trademark.

Tina.

[Edcello]

It’s funny, I have been asking around and I get several different responses. None of them from Copyright Lawyers, unfortunately. But the main thing I am getting is as long as there is no movie or another image associated with the book then generally it’s ok. Because you are using your own imagination to create the image. Where as if you have the main character on the cover of the book and draw a screen using that image you could get into trouble. Obviously the more money a mega corporate deity has invested into a book or series they will be watching anything that even resembles their investment.

I could be completely wrong in this, since I am pulling from many sources and no matter how true I want it to be, it could very well be wrong. I would still like to hear any more responses to this question… I’m sure it has come up some time in some ones’ carrier.

Thanks all..
Ed

[studiospace]

My understanding, in short:

One of the fundamental tenents of copyright is that it protects only the form in which ideas and information are expressed (hey, here's a US authority even: Baker v Selden (1880) 101 US 99 - yes, everyone uses it). In other words, copyright does not protect ideas as such, only the form of expression.

So ... if you read a recently published book and proceed to create a painting, say, based on a chapter in that book, it would be pretty hard to say that's copyright infringement (unless you ripped off an illustration in the book).

I'll leave it at that. I'm in Australia and different countries have different IP regimes.

NB. this ain't legal advice

Cheers, Victor