Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Massachusetts
Please help me with my painitng career. I paint in oil and pastel often using my own images or objects in my view. I have also made paintings from inspiration in other photographs often added in color when they are in black and white, changing the landscape or just using the image as a reference. I would like to avoid any possible copy right infringement so please tell me what I must do to avoid this. Thank you very much.
1 Answer from Attorneys
In using the black and white photos, and adding your artistic detail, you are creating a "derivative work". You own copyrights to your painting, but in making a derivative work, you must have permission from the copyright owner of the work which you adapted. If you are doing this in your own home for no commercial purpose, it's no problem. If you wish to sell your paintings or display them in public (including internet), you need permission from each copyright owner of the underlying works which you have adapted into your own art.
I hope that was more helpful than confusing. Please seek the assistance of an intellectual property attorney in your area -- post haste if you are selling your art.
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