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The Legality of Appropriation (or Am I a Crook?)

Fri, 05/28/2004 - 16:21 — porter
porter's picture

I have a question for the legal experts out there.

Hypothetically speaking, let's say I started a photo-webcomic. Let's even go so far as to say this comic was at www.CowPunch.com. The premise of this comic is appropriating other people's family photos, cropping them, drawing over them, and turning them into comic strips. Would the hypothetical person behind this comic be stealing? Or would he/she be simply reacting to the flood of info and images currently on the web? How would it be different from Warhol's work in the sense that he too was stealing images in a commentary on the media? (not that I'm comparing this creator to Warhol!)

How much would be stealing and how much would be appropriating? Is appropriating just a fancy word for stealing? I also heard (although it very well may be wrong) that if you use somebody's image and change it a certain percentage, the new work then belongs to the new creator?

If the original photo is almost unrecognizable should the creator even worry? And finally, is a family snap shot considered artistic property?

I have no idea who this "hypothetical creator" might be, but...okay it's me. Do any of you lawyers out there know the answers to my questions?


Fri, 05/28/2004 - 16:21 — porter
porter's picture

The Legality of Appropriation (or Am I a Crook?)

I have a question for the legal experts out there.

Hypothetically speaking, let's say I started a photo-webcomic. Let's even go so far as to say this comic was at www.CowPunch.com. The premise of this comic is appropriating other people's family photos, cropping them, drawing over them, and turning them into comic strips. Would the hypothetical person behind this comic be stealing? Or would he/she be simply reacting to the flood of info and images currently on the web? How would it be different from Warhol's work in the sense that he too was stealing images in a commentary on the media? (not that I'm comparing this creator to Warhol!)

How much would be stealing and how much would be appropriating? Is appropriating just a fancy word for stealing? I also heard (although it very well may be wrong) that if you use somebody's image and change it a certain percentage, the new work then belongs to the new creator?

If the original photo is almost unrecognizable should the creator even worry? And finally, is a family snap shot considered artistic property?

I have no idea who this "hypothetical creator" might be, but...okay it's me. Do any of you lawyers out there know the answers to my questions?

Fri, 05/28/2004 - 19:00 — Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

From past reading on these issues, I think this author *cough would be fine on those that totally obscured the original picture, which is MOST of the comics from a breif look-over. You might have a problem with those that still show the image of people (backgrounds, and totally drawing over people not included) because you really do have to have someone's permission for their image to appear in something. Especially since these are photos someone else took.

I'm not an expert on the law here, but I do know that even if you are doing something legally correct, it's still sometimes trouble to mess with the grey areas, since most people can't afford to prove they're right in court if someone finds their picture of grandpa defaced in the comic.

Sat, 05/29/2004 - 21:31 — Anonymous
Anonymous's picture

I think the general rule is the face. There's always footage of people shown from the neck down whenever there's one of those "America is Very Fat" news stories, and I'm guessing the average mall jockey wouldn't give permission for something like that.

The main thing is that the person not be recognized, and that's the catch-22. If you photoshop and mess with the picture so much that it's unrecognisable, you should be in the clear -- but if that's the case, the person in question shouldn't recognize it in the first place.

Tue, 06/01/2004 - 13:25 — porter
porter's picture

hmmm...all very interesting. thanks for the tips! i'd like to switch between obsurring the person and obscurring the background if possible. maybe my next step will be including a button for people to submit pictures of themselves that i will then turn into a comic. i'd include a note stating some sort of legal release to cover my ass. Would any of y'all be interested in becoming a character on CowPunch?