Discussion:
What is the name of your state?
California
Hello,
I was interested in creating and selling my own screensavers, but am wondering what my limits are as far as creating images and animations that resemble locations from popular movies. For example, if I drew my own picture or created a computer generated image of the "carbon freezing chamber" from the movie Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, would it be illegal to sell even though I'm not using the "Star Wars" name or referring to it in any way? I realize characters are copy written, but can I create and sell images of recognizable sets from movies without permission?
Thanks in advance!
Answer:
What is the name of your state?
California
Hello,
I was interested in creating and selling my own screensavers, but am wondering what my limits are as far as creating images and animations that resemble locations from popular movies. For example, if I drew my own picture or created a computer generated image of the "carbon freezing chamber" from the movie Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back, would it be illegal to sell even though I'm not using the "Star Wars" name or referring to it in any way? I realize characters are copy written, but can I create and sell images of recognizable sets from movies without permission?
Thanks in advance! If you are creating your own artwork "inspired" by Star Wars or whatever, then you should be okay so long as you don't in any way use the Star Wars name or logo in such a way as to imply that that your work is in any way affiliated with or approved by the Star Wars trademark holders. The key issue for you isn't copyright, but trademark -- it's unlikely, however, that the sets themselves are trademarked, so they should be okay to draw. The characters, however, are more likely trademarked, and therefore it is less safe to use them as models.
If you are directly copying the set (even if it is a drawing, but a precise drawing, not "inspired by") then you could potentially have both copyright and trademark problems.
Answer:
You told me exactly what I needed to know.
Thank you.