Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Indiana

Re: Using old comics for art work

Without knowing your facts in greater detail, it's only possible to make general comments, but here are some of the concepts you'll need to consider: copyright, derivative use, fair use, public domain.

Under Copyright law, the owner of a copyright (in your situation, likely the comic company, publisher or artist/writer) has the exclusive rights to do and to authorize any of the following:

(1) to reproduce the copyrighted work in copies;

(2) to prepare derivative works based upon the copyrighted work;

(3) to distribute copies of the copyrighted work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;

(4) to perform the copyrighted work publicly; and

(5) to display the copyrighted work publicly.

You're looking to create a derivative work, which falls under #2 above. Generally, you would need permission from the copyright owner or risk infringing their work.

However, the doctrine of "fair use" may allow you create artwork without obtaining permission. The Copyright Act (Sec. 107) allows certain uses of copyrighted work that are not considered infringement. These purposes include criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research.

In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use, the following factors are considered:

(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;

(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;

(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and

(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

Finally, depending on the age of the comic books, they may have entered the public domain, meaning you are free to do what you want with them. I suspect that is not the case, however, as you probably wouldn't be making artwork out of classic books.

You may want to meet with a copyright attorney who can learn your specific facts and make a professional analysis of any "fair use" claim you may have.

Hope this helps.