This is where it can be helpful to have people around you that you trust to be honest with you to allow you to reality check you – are they seeing what you’re seeing? Having an Attorney as part of your team ensures you have someone you can trust to tell you the truth.Īrtists, including photographers, borrow or appropriate the techniques of other artists both as part of the learning and training process and as part of being inspired to create. An artist can also use multiple reference photographs from multiple points of view or style and combine them in a new way.Īt this stage, the most important question to ask is whether the painting or illustration is readily identifiable as a copy of your work? Just like you might take inspiration from the work of another photographer, or artist, or ad campaign, if an artist creates a painting which is their own personal interpretation of a photographer’s techniques for creating visual effects, for example lighting or post production effects, and the artist or illustrator uses those techniques as inspiration for their painting or illustration rather than copying them directly, they are unlikely to have infringed your copyright.

When is using a photograph in the course of creating a painting not copyright infringement If you believe a painting or illustration has been painted directly from one of your photographs, and that artist is selling that work in any form, you will likely want to consult with an attorney about copyright infringement. This is particularly the case where an artist requests permission and agrees with you in advance about how they intend to use the image where their work will be sold or used to make money. One famous case, as an example, involved a photographer who successfully sued artist Jeff Koons for not requesting permission or licensing before making a ceramic work that very closely resembled her photograph of a couple posing with multiple puppies while seated on a park bench.Ĭopyright Infringement is only possible if the artist did not request permission from you as the photographer in advance to use the image in question as a basis for their painting or illustration. However: if they create their painting, illustration or other work of art from a specific photograph or if your photography is known for a particular unique style, and their images are readily identifiable with you as the photographer, and an artist copies one of your photographic compositions or incorporates your photographic style into their painting or illustration they may be liable for copyright infringement.Ī claim for copyright infringement is something you might want to consider if you believe that an artist has “extensively, obviously and knowingly” copied or imitated your work, and it is readily identifiable with you and your work. The short answer: If an artist makes an illustration or painting or any other work of art based on a photograph they may or may not be violating copyright law.įor example: if they base their painting on an oft photographed or painted location, generic subject matter, or an image that has been taken by numerous photographers they would likely not be violating copyright law. So what if you believe someone has imitated or copied one of your photographic images? Portraits - Families, Children & More icon-chevronĪs we know, only a copyright holder has the exclusive rights to a creative work, and only they can grant a person a license to use their image or work.Glamour - Sue Bryce Contracts icon-chevron.By Photographer Type icon-chevron Expand submenu.

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