On 12/21/06, Guy Chapman aka JzG guy.chapman@spamcop.net wrote:
On Wed, 20 Dec 2006 19:54:03 -0500, "James Hare" messedrocker@gmail.com wrote:
Case in point: Captain Jean-Luc Picard(r).
So a caricature of Picard would be forbidden? Really?
A caricature of Picard would likely be a derivative work, since Picard is a copyrighted character. Of course, it would also likely fall under fair use, as it would likely be a highly adaptive derivative work with little potential impact on the original.
I am honestly confused here. What about, say, a painting of an aircraft? Is that unfree by virtue of the manufacturer's rights, or the airline's logo?
A painting which incorporated a copyrighted logo would be copyrighted as a derivative work. If the use was so insignificant as to be fair use/fair dealing in just about any jurisdiction, I'd still call it free though.
I have a friend who is a commercial artist, that is not an idle question.
Commercial artists rarely care about what is free/unfree, focussing instead on what is legal/illegal.
Anthony