Incognito

Art vs. Copyrights

I found this from austinkleon—

This is an absolute must-read account by Andy Baio, who was threatened with a lawsuit by Jay Maisel, photographer of the Miles Davis photo onKind of Blue, which Baio had transformed into pixel art for the cover of his 8-bit tribute, Kind of Bloop. Goddamn terrifying murky waters of fair use that some of us swim in.

Go read it: it’s every artist’s nightmare.

There are a lot of myths and misconceptions about “fair use” on the Internet. Everyone thinks they know what fair use is, but not even attorneys, judges, and juries can agree on a clear definition. The doctrine itself, first introduced in the 1976 Copyright Act, is frustratingly vague and continually being reinterpreted.

Four main factors come into play:

The purpose and character of your use: Was the material transformed into something new or copied verbatim? Also, was it for commercial or educational use?

The nature of the copyrighted work

The amount and substantiality of the portion taken, and

The effect of the use upon the potential market

…In his influential paper on fair use, Judge Pierre N. Leval wrote, “Factor One is the soul of fair use.” Stanford’s Fair Use Center asks, “Has the material you have taken from the original work been transformed by adding new expression or meaning? Was value added to the original by creating new information, new aesthetics, new insights and understandings?”

Austin Kleon is right— copyrights are a huge deal for artists. At school, if they suspect you of copyright infringement or plagiarism, you are put through a full-blown investigation and can potentially be kicked out. We walk a very fine line when using or referencing materials, and need to take extra carenot to get into any legal trouble.

It’s horrible how Andy was treated when he meant no harm to the photographer or his work. There certainly wasn’t any malicious intent where the material used is concerned. However, reading an article like this really makes you aware of how much the legal system can utterly crush your plans and aspirations.

I have to be careful while I work on my game projects. And to the rest of you: good luck with your artistic dreams, and be careful.

(via austinkleon)

Source: waxy.org