Hello ladies and gents, an interesting little light of events arose today which makes a good time for a little Photoshop, fan art, fair use and copyright review. So sit down, shut up and hold on because Uncle Kensai is going to school you with a little knowledge of how things work in this business.
Source: Wikipedia
Fan art or fanart is artwork that is based on a character, costume, item, or story that was created by someone other than the artist. The term, while it can apply to art done by fans of characters from books, is usually used to refer to art derived from visual media such as comics, movies or video games. Usually, it refers to artworks by amateur artists, or artists who are unpaid for their fan creations.
Let's say you want to take a picture of Master Chief corpse humping a grunt and edit it in Photoshop. Ok, You've got MC codpiece deep on the grunts face and you're ready to show the world your super l33t new piece. Pay attention, you just created some fan art. There's a couple things to know about this manly masterpiece of vulgar relief:
Source: Wikipedia
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 17 U.S.C. § 106 and 17 U.S.C. § 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:
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.
What this means in English: Is this picture going to to be used to for researching the drop rate of a Master Chief crouch? Are you making fun of someone with this hardcore thrust? Are you using this as a comment in Maxim's “How do you show your friends you love them?” thread? Are you part of a news publication? Are you teaching someone a proper grunt kill? Are you using this as a designer piece for applying for a scholarship (Good luck! Nothing says I'm serious about school like a good animated face thrusting!)?
If you answered yes to any of the following questions, GREAT, you're not infringing copyright!
So you thought...You see when it really comes down to it, there's a big giant gray area if you live in the United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Generally, the right to reproduce and display pieces of artwork is controlled by the original author or artist under 17 U.S.C. § 106. However, fan art using settings and characters from a previously created work (such as the Halo universe) could be considered a derivative work, which would place control of the copyright with the owner of that original work. Display and distribution of fan art that would be considered a derivative work would be unlawful.
Bu... but... you mean all my Halo fan art pieces are owned by Bungie. Short answer yes, unless you somehow get a better defense attorney than them (good luck!).
Now, a particular issue brought up was, what about an ingame screenshot?
Source: Wikipedia
Some companies believe the use of screenshots is an infringement of copyright on their program, as it is a derivative work of the widgets and other art created for the software.Regardless of copyright, screenshots may still be legally used under the principle of fair use in the U.S. or fair dealing and similar laws in other countries.
So, you found this brand new screenshot of a spartan swan diving on fire through the man cannon on Valhalla, score! Remember those questions I asked earlier, that's the ONLY cases you can use this photo in. If you work for the 405th Source – our electronic magazine (a news publication) – and you want to use that picture of a flaming spartan shooting out of the Valhalla man cannon you're in luck! *does the safety dance*
QUICK REVIEW:
Your own fanart – legal until Bungie says otherwise with the banhammer in court. (So far they've been very nice at not suing the crap out of the entire site and every member participating in crafting armor.)
Screenshots – Fair game for everyone as long as it's fair use (see the above questions I asked).
As for screenshots, I always trust my good friend Hawty McBloggy to find the best on the web. She runs the uber cool site http://halo3screenshots.com/ and has been very nice and is well aware we use the screenshots she finds around in that big giant heap we call Halo 3 file share. She's given the 405th lots of love as a whole over the years and I go out of my way whenever I can to thank all people out there whipping up wicked Halo 3 screenshots and Hawty herself. Infact I recently donated a few sets of the Odessa and Helljumper limited edition posters and offered them up for her, her husband, and some lucky winners over on her site so keep refreshing for a chance at those!
As for the “stolen” artwork today, seems I got a copy of a copy to work with in my travels in the screenshot underworld. The screenshot seen in Odessa issue #3 was taken by “The Stig” a 405th member here who felt I wronged him. I just wanted to set the record straight on what actually happened since the topic was locked before I had even received a message that anything was wrong. I've informed Vex to add a link and add the words “Original screenshot by: The Stig” under that photo in issue #3 to make ammends.
Just a final note that applies to my little Photoshop copyright lesson today, if you suspect a theft of your art or similar situation, usually an e-mail or some form of communication between you and the user can usually clean up any troubles that follow. If that fails you can always report the item to a moderator or owner of that website and they'll handle the situation.
Schools out, now time to get cracking on the new format!
Cheers,
Kensai
Source: Wikipedia
Fan art or fanart is artwork that is based on a character, costume, item, or story that was created by someone other than the artist. The term, while it can apply to art done by fans of characters from books, is usually used to refer to art derived from visual media such as comics, movies or video games. Usually, it refers to artworks by amateur artists, or artists who are unpaid for their fan creations.
Let's say you want to take a picture of Master Chief corpse humping a grunt and edit it in Photoshop. Ok, You've got MC codpiece deep on the grunts face and you're ready to show the world your super l33t new piece. Pay attention, you just created some fan art. There's a couple things to know about this manly masterpiece of vulgar relief:
Source: Wikipedia
Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 17 U.S.C. § 106 and 17 U.S.C. § 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:
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.
What this means in English: Is this picture going to to be used to for researching the drop rate of a Master Chief crouch? Are you making fun of someone with this hardcore thrust? Are you using this as a comment in Maxim's “How do you show your friends you love them?” thread? Are you part of a news publication? Are you teaching someone a proper grunt kill? Are you using this as a designer piece for applying for a scholarship (Good luck! Nothing says I'm serious about school like a good animated face thrusting!)?
If you answered yes to any of the following questions, GREAT, you're not infringing copyright!
So you thought...You see when it really comes down to it, there's a big giant gray area if you live in the United States.
Source: Wikipedia
Generally, the right to reproduce and display pieces of artwork is controlled by the original author or artist under 17 U.S.C. § 106. However, fan art using settings and characters from a previously created work (such as the Halo universe) could be considered a derivative work, which would place control of the copyright with the owner of that original work. Display and distribution of fan art that would be considered a derivative work would be unlawful.
Bu... but... you mean all my Halo fan art pieces are owned by Bungie. Short answer yes, unless you somehow get a better defense attorney than them (good luck!).
Now, a particular issue brought up was, what about an ingame screenshot?
Source: Wikipedia
Some companies believe the use of screenshots is an infringement of copyright on their program, as it is a derivative work of the widgets and other art created for the software.Regardless of copyright, screenshots may still be legally used under the principle of fair use in the U.S. or fair dealing and similar laws in other countries.
So, you found this brand new screenshot of a spartan swan diving on fire through the man cannon on Valhalla, score! Remember those questions I asked earlier, that's the ONLY cases you can use this photo in. If you work for the 405th Source – our electronic magazine (a news publication) – and you want to use that picture of a flaming spartan shooting out of the Valhalla man cannon you're in luck! *does the safety dance*
QUICK REVIEW:
Your own fanart – legal until Bungie says otherwise with the banhammer in court. (So far they've been very nice at not suing the crap out of the entire site and every member participating in crafting armor.)
Screenshots – Fair game for everyone as long as it's fair use (see the above questions I asked).
As for screenshots, I always trust my good friend Hawty McBloggy to find the best on the web. She runs the uber cool site http://halo3screenshots.com/ and has been very nice and is well aware we use the screenshots she finds around in that big giant heap we call Halo 3 file share. She's given the 405th lots of love as a whole over the years and I go out of my way whenever I can to thank all people out there whipping up wicked Halo 3 screenshots and Hawty herself. Infact I recently donated a few sets of the Odessa and Helljumper limited edition posters and offered them up for her, her husband, and some lucky winners over on her site so keep refreshing for a chance at those!
As for the “stolen” artwork today, seems I got a copy of a copy to work with in my travels in the screenshot underworld. The screenshot seen in Odessa issue #3 was taken by “The Stig” a 405th member here who felt I wronged him. I just wanted to set the record straight on what actually happened since the topic was locked before I had even received a message that anything was wrong. I've informed Vex to add a link and add the words “Original screenshot by: The Stig” under that photo in issue #3 to make ammends.
Just a final note that applies to my little Photoshop copyright lesson today, if you suspect a theft of your art or similar situation, usually an e-mail or some form of communication between you and the user can usually clean up any troubles that follow. If that fails you can always report the item to a moderator or owner of that website and they'll handle the situation.
Schools out, now time to get cracking on the new format!
Cheers,
Kensai
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