photo to illustration copyrights?

[nikolasideris]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? None...

So,

I'm a music publisher (publishing music scores) and as such I've hired an illustration artist to create a full page Black & White illustration on a specific theme.

He did so, but he admitted that he kinda copied the illustration from a combination of two photos, found on the internet.

His illustration is two fire fighters, and he took each one from a different photo. No faces are shown, and there are a few artistic liberties in there...

My question:

Can I go ahead and publish his illustration, or is this a copyright infringement? Given that it's faceless, it's impossible for the people IN the photo to create an issue, but the photographers could very well do so...

What's your opinion on the matter? (I could post the illustration and the photos, but I'm hesitating for various reasons...)

Thank you.

Nikolas

 

[nikolasideris]

If this makes any sense, or is of any help:

A. The publishing house and myself are both Greek.
B. The artist is from Colombia, currently living in Japan!
C. This project (the music score that this particular illustration will appear on, along with any other item) involves 3 artists and 9 music composers:
i. Artists from: Poland, Argentina (living in the UK) and Colombia (living in Japan)
ii. Composers from: UK, USA, Canada, Greece, The Netherlands and Bulgaria
iii. The fire fighters are from the US, and thus my assumption is that the photographs are copyrights in the US (no idea if they've registered though).



It's as international as it can get, huh?

 

[Proserpina]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? None...

So,

I'm a music publisher (publishing music scores) and as such I've hired an illustration artist to create a full page Black & White illustration on a specific theme.

He did so, but he admitted that he kinda copied the illustration from a combination of two photos, found on the internet.

His illustration is two fire fighters, and he took each one from a different photo. No faces are shown, and there are a few artistic liberties in there...

My question:

Can I go ahead and publish his illustration, or is this a copyright infringement? Given that it's faceless, it's impossible for the people IN the photo to create an issue, but the photographers could very well do so...

What's your opinion on the matter? (I could post the illustration and the photos, but I'm hesitating for various reasons...)

Thank you.

Nikolas

Sorry, we only deal with US law.

 

[nikolasideris]

Sorry, we only deal with US law.

Thank you for your fast reply.

If I may ask: Should I be dealing with the Greek law then (considering that the publishing house is situated in Greece)?

 

[Proserpina]

Thank you for your fast reply.

If I may ask: Should I be dealing with the Greek law then (considering that the publishing house is situated in Greece)?

In all honesty (and I thank you for taking that so well!), the situation is so convoluted that you'd need to start in Greece (if only to confirm whether or not Greece would have jurisdiction) and work from there outwards.

Good luck!

 

[quincy]

You should have the illustration and photographs looked at by an IP attorney in Greece, as Proserpina advised. It is possible (although I don't know how probable) that the illustration created by the artist in Japan can be viewed as a transformative work as opposed to a derivative of the copyrighted photos.

Transformative works will use a copyrighted work as a "jumping off" point but will change the copyrighted work in such a way as to create an entirely different and distinct work. Transforming a copyrighted work (such as making a parody of a work) is often judged to be a fair use of the copyrighted material.

Derivative works, on the other hand, will use the original copyrighted work and add creative elements to it (as would be the case with colorizing a black and white photo, or translating a literary work into a different language). Creating derivatives is one of the exclusive rights granted copyright holders.

Determining whether a newly created work is a derivative of an original work or not is often left for a court to decide, and there are many factors a court will look at when making this decision.

The exclusive right of copyright holders to create derivatives is a right recognized in all countries that have ratified the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), and are Berne Convention and Universal Copyright Convention international treaty signatories (and this includes most countries in the world).

If you were to publish the illustration and one or both of the photographers thought the illustration infringing, the photographers could sue you and the publishing house in Greece under Greece's copyright laws, and the artist could be sued in Japan under Japan's copyright laws (or in Columbia, if the artist moves back home).

Again, having a comparison done of the artist's illustration and the photographs by an IP professional in your area, prior to publication of the illustration, is wise and advised.



(as a note: We do handle only U.S. law questions on this forum, as Proserpina has stated, but I had extra time to kill this morning )

 

[nikolasideris]

thank you quincy.

What you say makes total sense and I will consult an IP attorney here in Greece... "just in case" (as I've started this thread, it's obvious that the last thing I want is to step on a copyright issue... Especially as a composer I'm very much fighting in favour of copyrights...).

Again thank you all for your help!

 

[quincy]

You're welcome, nikolasideris.