[cc-community] Licensing postcards, etc.

Paul Dixon paul at elphin.com
Mon Oct 2 15:58:32 EDT 2006


>  
> If I am selling an oil painting on Ebay and I take a picture of it for 
> my listing, then there are two copyrights potentially at issue: (1) 
> the photograph, and (2) the image of the painting. As the photographer 
> and seller of the painting, I could logically argue that I own the 
> copyright in the photo and have fair use to use the image of the 
> painting in the photo (because I am photographing it to sell 
> it). In such a situation my copyright notice is entirely valid, even 
> if I don't own the rights to the painting itself.
Ownership of the painting does not confer its copyright rights upon you 
unless this has been expressly transferred to you by the artist. Since 
you don't own the copyright, you *don't* have the right to make copies. 
Even if you make copies under a "fair use" doctrine, these copies don't 
magically have a new copyright belonging to you.

One of the rights protected by copyright law is the right to make 
derivative works. If the artist allows you make derivative works, then 
you could conceivably copyright a photograph of that work.

> Layers of copyright is what makes being a documentary filmmaker hell 
> because they work in a medium where they may own the final film's 
> copyright, but all the images, music, etc. shown in the film is 
> potentially copyrighable on its own.  
Works like that are a combination of "fair use" and the traditional 
tasks of copyright clearance with the rights holders.

Bottom line is that either your derivation falls under fair use, or you 
negotiate derivation with the rights holder.


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