Tuesday, March 25, 2008

New Painting

Here's a quickie I did tonight... first time I've "painted" since... Oh I don't know January, I suppose. I'm happy I took a break... started off really refreshed, made some bold moves with application and most of all: had fun! It's based on a photo in the March 2008 Vogue of model, Daria Werbowy. Here's a question: if this painted from a photograph, but is just as much about my hand as it is the subject, does the painting become mine, or is it still the intellectual property of the photographer?

From the bottom of my heart, I know that this will never be mine, but I've heard about changing the source material to a certain degree and then it being considered original. Anyway, I merely ask just to feel okay about putting something like this in my portfolio as a display of technical skill.

2 comments:

Tina Poe said...

I believe that the intellectual property is yours, but painting from someone else's photograph can still be, unfortunately, copyright infringement.

But this whole area of copyright law is tricky, parody is not copyright infringement, and also if you changed enough from the original reference that it is unrecognizable (changed the pose and composition).

You can ask for permission from the copyright holder to be on the safe side.

"The right to make derivative copies is reserved exclusively to the copyright owner. While the idea for a work of art can be copied, the expression of the idea is fully protected. Sometimes, it is difficult to differentiate between an idea and an expression because the idea can sometimes get lost in the expression."

Adam Osgood said...

Hmm, that's all just about what I thought. I'm not terribly concerned, as I only use exact reference material when I'm bored and just want an exercise.

I think I'm going to have to get my camera out and start taking more pictures!!