Re: Copy[RIGHT] and ethics: redrawing

[dinoboygraphics@aol.com]

In short, academic (non-commercial) uses that modify illustrations and 
still credit the original source ("Modified after Hartman, et al. 2006) 
have no legal issue.  Modifying an image and not attributing the source 
for academic publication may be legal depending on what degree you have 
modified the image, but there's really no ethical excuse for not 
attributing the original author/illustrator, so this really shouldn't 
be an issue (although looking at some papers apparently it is...).

If you are publishing something for commercial purposes, then the rules 
behind copyright violation get a bit tighter, if for no other reason 
than you have an asset worth suing for (potentially).  With commercial 
projects it's almost always better to secure the proper rights ahead of 
time rather than modify them slightly and hope for the best.  If for 
some reason it's impossible (and "not being able to afford it" isn't a 
valid legal rejoinder) I would recommend consulting a copyright 
attorney first to make sure you are on safe ground in terms of how much 
you have modified the item in question.

Good luck!

Scott Hartman
Science Director
Wyoming Dinosaur Center
110 Carter Ranch Rd.
Thermopolis, WY 82443
(800) 455-3466 ext. 230
Cell: (307) 921-8333

www.skeletaldrawing.com

-----Original Message-----
From: David Marjanovic <david.marjanovic@gmx.at>
To: DML <dinosaur@usc.edu>
Sent: Sun, 17 May 2009 12:43 pm
Subject: Re: Copy[RIGHT] and ethics
: redrawing






> - What if it hasn't been possible to obtain permission from the 
original
> author?Â
Â

Usually the author doesn't even hold the copyright, because the author 
had
to sign over the copyright, his mortgage, and his firstborn to the
publisher. (And most of the exception consists of certain open-access
journals where the author retains the copyright, but has to sign over 
all
his department's money.)Â
Â

> Does publishing redrawn technical images constitute copy[right] 
violation?Â
Â

No, at least not if something is modified. For example, fig. 4 in this 
paper
http://dpc.uba.uva.nl/ctz/vol77/nr03/art02 differs from the originals 
in the
stipples for shading, the labels, and the shades of gray added to mark
certain bones.Â
Â

> - Does it matter if the original drawings originate from an academic
> journal or from a more directly commercial publication?Â
Â

No idea, but it would surprise me.Â
Â

> - Does it matter what the new drawings are being used for? If they 
are
> being published in an academic or commercial setting?Â
Â

Good question. All I say above holds for academic settings. If you're 
trying
to make money off it, it's probably a better idea to contact the 
publisher
of the original... though, again, I don't know. Â