Can an artist legally make a painting after a photo that has a copyright?

Question

I want to make a painting modeled after a photograph, and i was going to change the colors up a bit, the photo has a copyright, so i am wondering if it is legal for me to paint it??? thanks for your help!

Answer 1

There is probably no problem, unless the photo is so closely controlled, that it is impossible to create on your own.  And the copyright usually means that you cannot make any profit whatsoever from using the photo.  So if you are just painting, go for it.  If you want to market the painting, it may still be okay, because it could be a parody.

What if you used a photo of the grand canyon.  You could copyright a specific photo, but certainly not a specific angle or scene.

What if you used a photo of a living celebrity? Again, being a public figure, especially if the photo was taken in a public area, it should be no problem.

Try asking again, only be more specific as to your subject.

Answer 2

there is a case mentioned in my copyright book of an artist getting sued by a photographer for copyright infringement  this is not a thing i'd advise doing without written permission from the photographer.

Answer 3

Copyright laws for art are understandably "fuzzy". There is a misconception that if your work is 10% different than the work that inspired it that the resulting work (yours) can copyright on it's own right.

http://painting.about.com/cs/artistscopy...

The question is, "what is your work trying to accomplish?" Are you actually attempting to make the original piece become yours, or is it a work of art on its own?

If it's really a new piece of art, then it's NEW and therefor unique.

more links on art copyrighting:

http://painting.about.com/od/copyrightfo...

Answer 4

Generally you can but not sell or profit from it. I think it is better if you ask the photographer and explain how you want to use the image.

More likely than not, you will get permission to use it.

Answer 5

If the painting is a close copy of the photo, it is a problem. It might be legal for you to paint it, but you could be sued if the painting is sold.

In a similar case involving a sculptor (Jeff Koons) and a photographer, where Koons made a sculpture of a string of puppies based on the photographer's work in a postcard, it was found that there was a copyright violation.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rogers_v._K...

Answer 6

yea thats legal. Not a thing wrong with it.