[sdiy] new CD / copyright for cover art

[Terrence McWee]

Herm . . .  Well, first and foremost, it depends on what country you're 
in.  Here in the States it's pretty straightforward (just yet-- gets 
less straightforward everyday: DMCA, grumble, grumble, grumble.)

IANAL, but I've studied a little copyright law, here goes:

1) Bosch died in ~1520.  In the States, anything from before 1921 is 
undeniable Public Domain.
2) If you significantly change an artists work (that is, alter it to the 
point of creating a new, artistically distinct and viable, work), it's 
called a "transformative work."  Transformative works are permissible 
under Fair Use exceptions-- which is why we can *have* collage in 
museums.  Unfortunately, de facto, it's a helluva lot easier to get the 
courts to call a piece of visual art "transformative" than it is to get 
them to call a musical work "transformative" (this is a ridiculous 
situation, legally, and I hope that the Taco Supreme Court will wake up 
and smell the coffee some day soon.)

T.Mc

PS: As an afterthought, it's a sad state of affairs that we've all 
become so legally gun-shy that we even think twice about putting an 
image that 1) belongs to the world and 2) is fundamental to the Western 
envisioning of Hell, to artistic use.  It seems we're half a step from 
checking ourselves before quoting Plato or the Bible-- afterall, that 
old Greek bastard or God might sue us.

What a world, what a world . . .

On Thursday, August 22, 2002, at 06:55  AM, jhaible at debitel.net wrote:

>
> Ok, this is slightly off topic, so please let's not start a big 
> discussion,
> but if anybody _knows_ this stuff, I'd be glad to get some info:
>
> I have finished recording my 3rd CD "Holiday in Purgatory", and
> I'm going to make the cover art now. I'd love to use something based on
> a Hieronymus Bosch painting. It's easy to find that on the web.
> How is the copyright situation? I would certainly not just use a picture
> as I find it, but alter it it in paintshop to fit my needs. Would 
> this=20
> infringe any copyrights?
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> JH.
>
>
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