copyright question on miniatures!!

[janzie]

can i use models / miniatures of existing movies or comics for my movie?
maybe if i alter the look?

how about masks or make-up effects from other movies?

thanks for your help...

[janzie]

could anyone help me out on this?
i´d really appreciate any comments- thanks...

[notwithstanding]

Basically, no, you can't use them. There are a number of factors that can come into play, but essentially, any work of art (including miniatures) is a protected work, owned by the artist, and cannot be reproduced on film without permission (to say nothing of any trademarks which might also be registered for the image of a miniature--like spider-man for example). If you alter the miniature so they're different, well, then it's a subjective test as to whether the alterations make the miniatures different enough. If you were going to use a "spider-man miniature" and paint his costume red and green instead of red and blue, that would most likely not be enough of a change to allow you to use the miniature, because it would still be recognizable as spider-man. The point at which it becomes a "new miniature" is a subjective one, which makes it hard to tackle such an enterprise without legal counsel. Keep in mind that if anyone feels you've copied their "art," then whether you have changed the miniature enough will be irrelevant to whether or not they sue.

[Matt Sconce]

I wish I knew. Maybe someone else here knows?

[wcs]

It's a basic question of copyright in the remix world. There are two questions, one moral, one legal:

Did you change it significantly (ie: add significant creative value)?
Do you think anyone who cares will notice?

The strictest interpretation of the law would say that you're completely out of luck. Derivative works are covered within copyright. When a derivative becomes original... who knows? Just don't ask vanilla ice. He doesn't know the answer at all.

[janzie]

thank you all!!!

[Beat Takeshi]

I used miniatures in mine.