Copyright question

I got inspired by some great artwork in a concept art book and i am thinking of modeling it for some practice and portfolio, giving all the source and credit to where its due. Since that art belongs to a trademarked and copyrighted IP, would i be in trouble for it even if i have no intention of profiting, just making a study of it and gave every credit to its owners? I prefer to state directly i'm modeling based on concept X from a known franchise than to change the model slightly and shift its pose or symbols subtly and not even give credit as i see happening a lot.

I'm thinking of the concept of fan artwork, which is basically half of the CG art i see nowadays and nobody seems to care or to be any "legal issue", but since i'm kind of OCD and like to cover my grounds, i wanted to be sure before i start.

Thanks

A trademark is normally something known as 'mark text', i.e. a word etc.. and they may also have a logo that incorporates this word. It's something that distinguishes there brand from others.

I think you are talking about a design that might be protected?

If you are infringing on someone else's design mark, providing it is registered(In UK, as you are in UK?), then they do have the right to sue you, but most likely might just ask you to take it down.

I'm in the process of creating my own IP and it is pretty complicated, but if someone took my design without my permission and started posting 'their' interpretation of it, whether similar or not, I'd be a little annoyed personally. You should always ask. Why not create your own image?

My two cents, is always ask permission, although there are plenty of images on here, the hulk etc.. and I doubt they got permission.

This has been discussed lots of times before, the general gist of this discussion is usually that is ok for practice purposes and personal portfolio work, provided you mention that this was a practice piece with source & credit given. If you make it appear you worked for this IP that's a big no-no.

If you start using it to brand and market yourself, for instance your name or logo with this picture closely together, or any other commercial endeavor, you could be in for a legal letter at any point. Especially car-brands or very popular IPs will have an active legal department.

I have the same Question that mrcain asked above.
what if i like a concept artwork of an artsit and i credit that artist for concept art and design and i made that in 3d modeling texturing and lighting for my showreel ??

ohw got the answer above at the same time i was posting this..:P

Thanks for clarification

Yes, an illustration which i don't really know who's the author but its in a compendium released recently by a videogame art department. My main interest in getting such reference works is basically because i suck very bad at drawing and prefer to model from concepts not drawn by me so i can spend more time doing actual 3d than having nightmares about terrible character design or how to solve a certain anatomy issue.



That was what made me wonder if people have such concerns here, specially with "mainstream" and easily identifiable artworks where there can't be any mistake that who is using it for reference/1:1 modeling from it isn't trying to get credit for the original concept (i guess that's the definition of fan art?).

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.