Does Copyright Law Apply To Hand Illustrations Of A Famous Person?
Posted by Copyright Law Enquirer on July 11th, 2009 at 04:25am
Would it break copyright law if I was to hand illustrate a caricature of an athlete or actor and print it onto a t-shirt for sale with their last name on the shirt? For example, if I drew a cartoon of Michael Jordan and printed it saying “Jordan” over the image could I be sued for that?
Tags: Apply, Copyright, Does, Famous, Hand, Illustrations, Person
Under copyright law
2 Comments for Does Copyright Law Apply To Hand Illustrations Of A Famous Person?
1. ron_mexi | July 11th, 2009 at 8:35 am
If you are copying another copyrighted image, then you are likely committing copyright infringement by creating a derivative work. If you are not copying another copyrighted image, then you are likely not committing copyright infringement.
That said, even if copyright isn’t an issue, using a celebrity’s image or likeness in your artwork may present other problems, such as right to publicity, unfair competition, or trademark law. You might want to speak to a media lawyer in your state to flesh out some of these issues in more detail.
2. wooj | July 11th, 2009 at 9:35 am
no. the name ‘jordan’ is not copyrighted!!!!!
good luck : )
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