Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Nevada

When is a copyright not a copyright?

The Staunton style of chess pieces was copyrighted in 1842 in England and I am sure in the US also though I have yet to find evidence of that.

If you have seen only one chess set in your life, it probably was a Staunton design.

What rights does a maker of a Staunton stlye piece piece have? By the way, it is believed by those who like chess sets that the design of the knight 'makes' the chess set.

This might be a little complicated to explain but I want to make a wax pieces of a staunton design chess piece, then using that wax piece, encase it in clear resin, to then melt the chess piece out of the clear resin leaving a empty impression within the clear resin square. So looking at the final product you will see empty space in the shape of the piece inside this clear rectangle.

Am I violating the designer's rights since the final product is actually empty space,albeit in the shape of their original design?

And again, since a general search at any chess store online for a staunton chess set will have pieces that (except for the knight) look exactly the same, Am I 'stealing' their design? I can commission an artist to make a knight of my own design but I feel I don't need to make every other piece also or do I?

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