So, as said above, I have some copyright questions.
1. I have a design in mind that is inspired by the quote, “Make art not war”, which is obviously from one of Shepard Fairey’s poster. Now, can I actually put that quote in the design or does Fairey own it?
2. Again, I have another design inspired by the ever so famous phrase, “Keep calm and carry on”. I know the rights for this has expired and is technically public domain, but does that mean I can have the phrase in the design?
Thanks for to whoever wants to answer! :)
-ronna15
Hi ronna,
Good questions. Copyright law is a bit iffy sometimes because there are some grey areas. We at DBH air on the side of caution when it comes to anything close to a rip. I think if the design is ‘inspired by’ or ‘reference by’ a piece but does not feature direct elements of that piece without changes then you are ok.
Shepard Fairey was caught up in a copyright issue himself for use of a photograph.
‘Mark Art Not War’ I believe has been used prior to his use of it and I don’t believe it to be copyrighted but it would be worth further investigation.
‘Keep calm and carry on’ has been rehashed to death and I don’t think anyone will be hassling you about that one.
If you are changing a design to make it funny that would be classed as a parody. Ein Stein is a good example of that. One thing artists aren’t always aware of is that celebraties can protect their ‘likeness’ which means using their face on things is a no-no.
My rule is always if I think it might cause me an issue I steer clear of it.