Category: Copyright

Art imitates life, or so they say, but when does art imitating life as captured in a photo become copyright infringement? I was a college newspaper editor when Kurt Cobain died. (This dates me, I know!) To commemorate Cobain, we published a pencil-sketch our staff artist modeled after a photo from one of Cobain’s albums. Had I been lawyer-Amy back then rather than journalism-student Amy, I might have warned, “Not so fast.”

I was recently introduced to the world of design-based business owners when I wrote an article on copyright tips for the popular design blog Design*Sponge. What a nice bunch of folks — the comments were so kind that I’ve considered feigning artistic talent to join their circle. In response to my conservative lawyerly advice to “get a license or don’t copy!,” at least one designer asked: But what about Creative Commons licenses? “People share ideas, sometimes even to the extent of showing how they make their craft. This sharing enriches all of us. I always come back to where would Bob Dylan and all of the great folk singers be if they had not shared and built on one another’s work.”