Copyright question......

[wildcat45]

If an artist made a painting or drawing from a photograph that wasn't theirs would that breach copyright?

I ask because I am in the final stages of writing a book There are two paintings from photographs which were made for me as a gift and which I may want to use as illustrations.

Thanks in advance.

[anonymous-user]

Tread carefully, as a painting based on a photograph could well be regarded as a derivative work and so would require the permission of the holder of the copyright in the photo, and absent such permission could be regarded as an infringement of copyright

The precise answer must depend on a comparison of the original work and the work said to derive from it.

[anonymous-user]

http://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/p22_de...

[wildcat45]

Ah looks like a No then.

They were pictures drawn from images sourced from the internet many years ago - Probably impossible to find and to contact the copyright holder.

Still they look fine hung on my wall, but I will rethink my plan.

[Monty Python]

Unless the photograph is of something that only the photographer has access to, then how would you go about proving the that artist didn't simply visit the same place?

[wildcat45]

I thought about that, and I have just found the original online.

The artist would have been aged 2 when the photo in question was taken. Now she's always been a very talented girl, (Now aged 32) but I don't think she was that advanced.

I have compared the two images - they are of a ship being built in a shipyard. The artwork uses a degree of license - the foreground is different - the photo has a person in the foreground - it is also a tighter shot - that is to say the photograph features another ship but the art work focusses on one ship, with the other vessel only partly visible. The angle of the ships, position of the cranes etc are the same, though the photograph was taken on a bright day, the picture is a little more grey and gloomy.

The artwork was made 6 years ago to celebrate the 8oth birthday of a family friend who helped build the ship. He has a copy, and as I have a link to the same ship, my wife gave me a copy. It was done by my wife purely as a gift and so she could try out some sort of drawing technique she'd not explored before. There was no original intention to use it commercially.

Side by side, the two are very different but clearly taken from the same angle. The copyright holder looks like just an ordinary guy who messes round with a camera now and then, not a pro.

Taking this slightly OT, I wonder what would be a reasonable fee to offer him If I decided to put the painting on the back cover of the book?

[Snowboy]

If I was in that situation I'd contact the photographer and ask.
They might want nothing at all, they might just want a photo credit or a copy of the book.

[wildcat45]

Yes no harm in asking I guess.