Character Portraits

[A. E. Lowan]

I'm not too sure how many other writers do this, but we collect pictures out of magazines and off the internet as inspiration for our characters. Not to many who are house-hold names (Not Johnny Depp or anything), but models and minor actors. We would like to share these pictures with our few fans on our Facebook pages, and eventually attach then to character bios on a full web site. Our fans have expressed an interest in seeing them.

Is this kosher? How does one go about getting around possible copy write laws? For example, the pic of my FMC is a clipping from an old Playboy.

Halp!

 

[CupofJoe]

I think there was a fairly similar question during the last week [but I can't find the thread now...].
It is most likely that someone owns those images and [especially the likes of Playboy - who make their living by their images] will look to protect their property.
There is the legal side of things; I think you could be left open to a world of litigation and hurt if the person you've used as the template for the villainous Antagonist [for example] objects or [the gods forbid] is attacked because someone thinks they are the Evil lady/lord XXXYYY.
Soap opera actor have been attacked because of what their character have done...
And for me there is the ethical thing... you are using/publishing people's images without their consent.
I have used images as stating off points for my characters [I think visually] but I have no intention of publishing them. They are my visual aide-mémoire.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Thank you very much. I certainly do not intend to hurt anyone by using their images. They just look so much like my characters! I'll just keep them for personal use, then. Thank you so much, and I will research this thread!

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Do you think it would be permissible to recreate the drawing by hand? I am actually a trained illustrator.

 

[CupofJoe]

Do you think it would be permissible to recreate the drawing by hand? I am actually a trained illustrator.

I think that is one for the legal department
I don't know legally if there is a difference, or what it might be, between someone's likeness and their image.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

That's it! Everyone, male and female, gets a mustache.

 

[CupofJoe]

That's it! Everyone, male and female, gets a mustache.

I like your thinking!!!

 

[A. E. Lowan]

I was originally trained as an illustrator. It's been nearly 10 years, but the inks are coming back out. Thanks, guys, for all your help!

 

[Steerpike]

Do you think it would be permissible to recreate the drawing by hand? I am actually a trained illustrator.

Still run into potential right of publicity issues, and also whether your hand-drawn image is a derivative work of the original photograph, in which case you still have copyright issues.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Seriously, I think I may be able to just use the pics as inspiration and go from there. *crosses fingers*

 

[saellys]

Use them for references but don't duplicate them verbatim, and you'll be fine. Illustrations are way cooler than just slapping a photo up there anyway.

 

[A. E. Lowan]

Totally agree. That's what I'm planning on. For example, the one of the ones I ripped from Playboy for my FMC was close, but no cigar. Wrong hair length, color, texture, face shape was slightly off - but the sweetness of personality was there, so I went with it. Now I get to fix all that, AND put her in the right clothes! lol (Her fashion sense is... unique.)

It's going to be the ones that are dead-on perfect that will be harder. Fortunately, most of my collection are foreign models whose names didn't even get tagged on their pictures. It's just that we have 300+ series characters... Not going anywhere for a while?