I’m not quite sure on where to post this, it’s a question related to copyright and refference images for models.
As far as I know (correct me if i’m wrong) anything i model using blender is copyright free and completely mine; meaning that blender foundation can’t ask money for the copyright of any of my models, and I can do whatever i want with them; even selling them for money. But i was wondering about this case:
Last year I used a refference image which i had found randomly on the internet to make a character for my first videogame. I didn’t intend to earn any money with that, so i didn’t care much about the copyright on that photo (I’ve checked it and it actually has copyright). Many of my friends liked that game, and also my teachers did (it was an school project) so I’m planning on making a more complex game (like a second part) with a better model (With a nice rig, and good topography as well as textures). I’m even planning on posting it on the android market, maybe i’m aiming a bit too far, but that’s not the point.
The point is: I used that non-copyright-free image as a refference to model my character. Does that apply the copyright laws of that photo in my model? Does it depend on how much my character is like the refference i used? I’d like some advice from someone who understands this copyright things better than me because i don’t want to get into any trouble if I ever get to earn money with my game (Just being cautious after all)
It depends on which country you have in mind, as different places have different likeness laws. In any case, it would be almost impossible to prove or disprove that you had used someones likeness in your 3D modeling, so I really don’t think that you have much to worry about. There is also legal precedent for artistic liberty, stating that artists take from the world around them and modify it for their own needs. There is no one out there who can say that when you were modeling that you weren’t just basing it off of a vague image of someone you saw on the street once.
If you have any doubts I would consult someone with expert knowledge rather than random people on the internet.
Just think, was the image you saw and used for your game picture of Mickey Mouse or Superman. If so expect the world to come down on you like a ton of bricks. If it was something else, maybe that was a copyrighted character as well ? Why not just ask permission from the original artist who you’ve ripped the idea from or use something original.
Intellectual property law is a minefield. With pretty much any creative work, it is a practical impossibility to not be potentially infringing on anyones trademark, copyright or patents.
A good metric to go by it is this: If somebody saw his rights infringed by my work, would there be an amount of money to be gained that outweighs the risk of losing a court case? For a character that merely bears a resemblance, it is somewhat unlikely that a court would rule in favour of the plaintiff. If however you copy an image verbatim, the case is crystal clear: The plaintiff will win.
There are other cases however when a rather big IP is infringed, the proprietor will threaten legal action merely to protect the IP, not just for monetary gain.
If you have any doubts I would consult someone with expert knowledge rather than random people on the internet.
True enough, such expertise does come at a price though. What I recommend is to research legal history. Do people ever go to court over character designs? Unless the character is big, the answer is: No.
Why not just ask permission from the original artist who you’ve ripped the idea from or use something original.
There are no original ideas. Whatever this artist has done is just a recomposition of things he has seen before. Just add some new elements, rearrange some stuff, put your own touch on it.
I’m no expert but I think that if your model looks exactly like the reference image you could be in trouble. You could make modifications to the mesh to avoid copyright infringement
For legal advice search a Lawyer in your country and ask him about this and show him the character in 3D and the references. Pay him for the legal advice and you will have a professional answer in this legal matter. Don`t search the internet for it cause in general copyright interpretation is different from country to country and the interpretation can be a little different. It is better to pay a Lawyer to give you the legal advice then if someone fill a complaint then you can sue the lawyer for giving false advice.
Don`t ask on the forums legal matter about copyrights and law in general. Every person has different type of trait.
Moderator can you make a sticky with something like “search for a paid Lawyer advice in any copyright and law related concerns” cause people can give rrong advice on web and the interpretation must be made by someone with a law degree. Not paying a lawyer for a legal advice is a good tiket to prsion.
Just copying some mikey mouse , means copying a brand , a character , an icon … all Disney lawyers wait for you to copy the character to land you some prison time cause none can pay what money they will ask to pay , just an example.
There was a discussion regarding this on 3DTotal a while ago, someone who tried to sell a model of Ironman was nearly sued for copyright infringement.
You cannot blatantly take a copyrighted image from someone else and try to make money off of it, if you are making a serious game that you are planning to sell I would suggest you actually take the time to make your own characters.
There was a discussion regarding this on 3DTotal a while ago, someone who tried to sell a model of Ironman was nearly sued for copyright infringement.
Are you sure this was about copyright? To me that sounds like a trademark infringement, if he copied the design and called it “Ironman”. If he just modeled someone in a red armor that is a similar design and called it “Steeldude” that would be a different story. Every creative work is automatically copyrighted, but not every design is a trademark.
Moderator can you make a sticky with something like “search for a paid Lawyer advice in any copyright and law related concerns” cause people can give rrong advice on web and the interpretation must be made by someone with a law degree. Not paying a lawyer for a legal advice is a good tiket to prsion.
What is going to happen if he pays for a lawyer? It is unlikely the lawyer will tell him he’s on the clear side (especially if that makes him liable) because the legal wording is vague enough that his interpretation cannot be meaningful - he will instead refer to legal history. Disclaimer: This is not legal advice
The original point remains: There’s nothing wrong with getting inspired by something, just change it around enough so that it becomes a work of yours. And that’s just from an artistic point of view, not from a legal one.
Apart from that, if you really want to be on the clear side, come up with your own “original” design, that’s cheaper than paying for a lawyer… (but first make sure first you have looked at every other character design in existence, just so you don’t risk any similarities!)
If you are contemplating any sort of “serious” use of any character, you need to “do due-diligence.” You need to be able to objectivelyshow, i.e. “to a court of law,” that you did search for the owner of whatever you used, and that you did make a pro-active and good faith effort to find out if any proprietary claim could possibly exist. That means, basically, “hiring an attorney to do a search for you.”
Now, you have prepared yourself for one of two things: the payment of royalties, or a bona-fide “innocent infringement” defense. Your defense is not merely passive: it is active and pro-active. “I was not aware of the alleged infringement, and in fact I believed that no infringement existed be-causeI (can prove that on this exact date and in this exact manner I) did the following …”
It is, quite frankly, expensive. But the legal repercussions of not doing it are far greater.
I guess it would be the best to just modify the character until it is impossible to prove that it was derived from the image you got the original concept from.
the safest way is to contact the copywrite holder and ask for permission. if they deny permission simply make a new character. then you dont have to pay for a lawyer which can get expensive. if you modeled rigged and animated the 1st model you can do it again, and you were planning on making a new model of the old character anyway. then you dont have to worry about “what if” you’ll know 100% for sure.
Also, just because the person who made the drawing you used for the concept gives you the OK (in writing, with a signature) doesn’t mean that person didn’t rip it off from somewhere, so make sure you know this as well if you contact the original artist.
I’m with the other people here who suggest you come up with an original character or modify your existing one enough that it doesn’t matter. In the end almost all art is derivative.
I didn’t expect to have that many answers, this copyright issues seem to be quite common nowadays.
Anyway, I think i’ll try contacting the original photo artist as some of you recommended, and if he doesn’t reply i’ll change some things in my character, or maybe add new ones. I was just using the refference for the shape because I’m actually very bad at drawing, but as I’m planning on making the textures myself it isn’t very likely that someone would find similarities between that refference and my character. It’s more like that I used a human drawing to make the mesh for a human model than copying the whole design.
I don’t think taking legal advice from a professional could be an option as I can’t actually afford a lawyer. If I get to make any money from my game, i don’t expect it to be enough to pay for a lawyer anyway so that would be wasting my money xD
Thank you very much for all your answers and for taking this matter seriously.
Creating an interesting character design is no easy matter. Which is why so many people wish to appropriates the creative work of others, and why the creators of those works attempt to protect them - they have value.
If you wish to make money from your skills, say in game creation, the appropriate strategy is to commission an artist to create appealing characters for you and use those designs. You need to invest something to make some profit. JW has used David Revoy extensively to create the characters for his modelling tutorials.
Making modifications to existing designs rarely works. A character design is often in the details, and if you change the details enough so the original is no longer recognizable then the character is also probably no longer appealing.
lawyers will sue you no matter what you do.
if you want to make a good honest living learn a
skilled trade like engineer, electrician, machinist, plumber, , etc.
art is a dead end.
