Snapping a picture in-game and copyright issues

[Pithikos]

I snapped some pictures from a SNES game. Then I manipulated the images to make stamps for T-shirt. Do I have the right to sell T-shirts with these stamps?

[Simian Man]

Nope. You are using artwork copyrighted by someone else.

[Pithikos]

Nope. You are using artwork copyrighted by someone else.

But what about shirts with Star Wars, Karate Kid, Tron etc? Have all these people obtained a license for making such shirts? I doubt it :-s

[Simian Man]

But what about shirts with Star Wars, Karate Kid, Tron etc? Have all these people obtained a license for making such shirts? I doubt it :-s

If they are legally selling them, they have licensed the artwork. There are obviously a lot of people who sell bootleg merchandise, but they do so illegally.

[mips]

But what about shirts with Star Wars, Karate Kid, Tron etc? Have all these people obtained a license for making such shirts? I doubt it :-s

Some might have others might have not.

If you can get someone to reproduce artistic stuff without copying original content then you should be ok but you can't blatantly copy a screenshot, market it & sell it without legal repercussions. You could however take concept and an twist it around in a humorous way to rag the original thing.

[winh8r]

I know very little about Swedish copyright and trademark law, but I would suggest that if the images had been manipulated to the extent that they could not be seen as a "direct representation" of a copyright image but were seen rather as an image "in the style of" then it would be possible to argue your case if challenged. However you would be unable to use any protected names to promote such an item either in public or online as this would be in contravention of the law.


Probably safer not to do it though.


Just stamp the t-shirts with "UBUNTU" and give them away with a free live cd.

[Simian Man]

Oh I didn't realize you were in Sweden. I foolishly assumed you were talking about America (damn enthno-centric amercian....). I have no idea what Swedish law is which may well be more forgiving on these issues.