I have a question about both IRTC procedure and perhaps a bit
of copyright law.  I don't expect definitive answers, but I also
don't want to get anyone in trouble with my entry.  So...

One of the principles of photorealistic rendering, according
to Bill Fleming (www.serious3d.com) is to use familiar objects.
In his example scene he uses some Energizer batteries, a 
Fujifilm disposable camera, and a book that looks like it 
was scanned from life.  My question is, what is the legality
of this?  Is it legal, for example, to take the label off a 
can of soup, scan it, and use the scanned image as an imagemap 
on a modeled can of soup? 

This is actually two separate questions:

1) Is it legal to do this at all, regardless of what I
   plan to do with the image, without getting explicit 
   releases from the companies whose artwork I'm using?
   (The question wouldn't bear considering except that
   we're talking about art.  Did Andy Warhol have to get
   Campbell's to sign something?  Do artists who work 
   in collage have to be careful what they use lest they
   trip over intellectual property laws?)

2) Assuming it is legal to do this in the art world, 
   is it legal in IRTC?

As I said, I don't expect definitive answers, and I'll pose
the first question to Mr. Fleming myself, but I'm interested
in any opinions the readers of this group might have.

Post a reply to this message