Does anyone know the basic to what is and whats not considered to fall under the copywrite laws. For instance if I was to cut out a flower that was on a birthday card and used that flower in a picture I created myself, would I be breaking any copywrite laws?
Answers (1)
There are plenty of sellers on Ebay, and Etsy, who repurpose greeting cards and sell what they've made out of those cards. It's part of "Keeping it green", repurpose, reuse, recycle. They also reuse such items as jewelry which will often have a copywrite, but they make "repurpose" it to make it their own, and resale it as their own. I cannot say that it's legal, but it happens all day long on either of those sites, and I'm sure other sights as well. I can tell you that there is a fine line between LEGALLY using clips of other artists "music" in order to make a new song, or breaking the law with that same clip. If you search YouTube for "Whole Lotta Helter Skelter", you will find a song,aka "mashup", that was made from songs by The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin. Mashups have been legally challenged, and it really depends on very fine lines of how common the songs are (fair use) and how much the new song has actually changed from the originals. Search Ebay and Etsy for crafts made from Christmas cards (You may be better off searching ornament, or collage made from greeting cards). Ebay probably has a topic on this, as many sellers like to post information in order to get their name out there, but it's usually helpful information. So, while I cant say that I know the answer directly, and/or with 100% certainty, maybe that can give you some leads, if you don't get the answer here. Also, keep in mind that if the photo of the (flower?) that you want to reuse, is something that is a real object, with countless similar photos of it, it may not be worth the time and effort to prove that the object is the one with a copywrite, and then to pursue legal action would be time consuming, and costly for that person. So unless you plan to mass produce it, and make enough money to make it worth it, I think that the odds would be in your favor. HOWEVER, if it's for a school project, the teacher may try to fail you for breaking the copywrite law. But, even then, it would be the teachers responsibility to prove that the said (flower?) is copywrite protected.
Thank u very much. I found ur answer to be quite helpful and I feel much more at ease introducing my Razzi Creations to the public!!!! Have a great day!