Wolf-Shade Wolf-Shade

Copyright or not?

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Copyright or not?

Using wallpaper downloads from movie sites.

from WinCustomize Forums

I have never posted before, but go back to WB version 1.x. Have faithfully used WB ever since.

The question I am curious is that I have made a Joker vista logon from a modified wallpaper from the official movie site and was wondering about the copyright rules for posting. I liked the xp logon by Z(+)Diac 'Jokerized' but I run Vista.

It came out well, and thought others might appreciate seeing it or using it if they like the new Batman series of movies. Kinda my tribute to Heath Ledger.

It is designed for my laptop with a res of 1920 x 1200. I am not sure how it would scale on other resolutions. Any help here would be appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

7,318 views 29 replies
Reply #26 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Would this not be Fan Art?You could devide the two 'terms' up this way:Fan ArtArt/graphics created (from scratch) based on a topic/theme/characterPermission required art/graphicsArt/graphics created/based on/modified from already existing art/graphics
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That's a bit of a misconception also.

Fan art can be someone using an image that was created by someone, like taking an image of superman and using it as your desktop wallpaper. Technically it's fan art but you didn't get permission from DC to use it as wallpaper and I'm sure DC didn't give permission for that art to be distributed on the net and to be downloaded by other people to be used for that purpose.

Fan art can also be someone creating a replica of a popular image, example: drawing a pic of superman. You might think this is harmless but in the end it still represents copyright infringement. Even if you drew the pic of superman (example only) on a napkin for your own personal use, it's considered a derivative work and goes against the copyright that DC owns on the superman image (or whoever owns it).

There is a catch with fan art though, this is where it gets grey. If you don't use the fan art to make money and you're not trying to make a profit of this fan art (example, drawing superman in photoshop, creating a wicked wallpaper and allowing other people to download it from you & use it as well), it can be considered fair use (somewhat).

The mods on this site make the final call on what they will allow so submit what you want and they will approve or reject it accordingly.

Reply #27 from WinCustomize Forums Top
The mods on this site make the final call on what they will allow so submit what you want and they will approve or reject it accordingly.
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Indeed we do/will ;)
Ashes of the Singularity II
Reply #28 from WinCustomize Forums Top
Thanks all, will send it and see what shakes out.

Unclerob, I would imagine that the 'Jokerized' logon kinda falls in your fan art catagory as there isn't a permission text included. It appears as it is a form of line art or litho from the jail pic (I have the picture).

Reply #29 from WinCustomize Forums Top
CpuWiz, I would say submit it to the mods, if they approve it, you're ok. If they don't, there was no harm in trying.

If DC ever comes to WC and says remove all material/skins on your site that contain the joker - WC will have to comply and remove them. It's nothing against you personally, they are just protecting their property.

FYI - I love comic book art, I have quite a few pics of marvel/dc characters in bootskins/logons/wb's, etc. I considered it fan art and the mods on this site agreed when they approved my submissions. If they ever had to remove my skins because Marvel/DC/Whoever owns the images demanded it, I wouldn't hold it against WC - it's not their fault. I chose to create skins that included fan art of these comic book characters and in doing so I have to accept that it may cross the line of copyright infringement and may get removed from the galleries at one point because of this.