Path: utzoo!censor!geac!torsqnt!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!rex!ukma!s.ms.uky.edu!kherron From: kherron@ms.uky.edu (Kenneth Herron) Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga Subject: Re: Copyright infringement... Message-ID: Date: 31 Dec 90 12:54:49 GMT References: <5772@uafhp.uark.edu> <37411@cup.portal.com> Followup-To: misc.legal Distribution: na Organization: University Of Kentucky, Dept. of Math Sciences Lines: 33 amigan@cup.portal.com (R Michael Medwid) writes: >I find it hard to believe that making a model of a space ship similar to the >one in 2001 would be considered copyright infringement. >In art if you alter an image (an I imagine this caries over >to models as well) even slightly you have legally made something new. >For example, in Paris there is a very famous poster which features >the mona-lisa with a moustach and the letters LHOOQ at the bottom...that >was not copywrite infringment...treasure evidently because the image was >different..it had a moustache. It's not copyright infringement because they didn't have copyrights back when the Mona Lisa was painted, and if they did, no copyright lasts long enough to protect it through the present day. In other words, there's no copyright infringement because the Mona Lisa isn't copyrighted. However, if the Mona Lisa _did_ have a copyright on it, then this LHOOQ painting you describe would be a pretty clear case of a derivative work, and hence a copyright violation. Copyright laws protect against derivative works. If they released 3D models that were obvious copies of the models in 2001, this would most likely be an infringement. If they were "sufficiently different" but similar designs, this would be okay. But it's up to the court to decide what's sufficiently different, and MGM has a lot more legal resources than a software company. Followups to misc.legal, this is not the group for copyright discussions. -- Kenneth Herron kherron@ms.uky.edu University of Kentucky (606) 257-2975 Department of Mathematics "Never trust gimmicky gadgets" -- the Doctor