Hello,
Can someone possibly advise me as to the legal position of drawing (NOT from a copyrighted photo or source) a likeness of a celebrity or other person and then selling said likeness commercially?
What copyrights am I infringing upon here if any?
What about ‘endorsement’ or ‘passing off’.
Thank you for all your help in advance!
J
Selling Illustrations & Drawings of other people:
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jimmytruelove
- New Member
- Posts: 1
- Joined: Fri Oct 13, 2017 8:29 am
Hi jimmytruelove,
If you are based in the UK then this shouldn't be a problem. Copyright certainly doesn't come into it, and there is no publicity right legislation in the UK either. As you have highlighted, the only possible issue might be one of false endorsement/passing-off. But if your intention is just to sell the portraits you make on their own, there will be no endorsement, and since there is no other product etc with goodwill attached to it, passing-off is not relevant here either. When I say 'product' I exclude the celebrity themself because obviously no-one would think that a portrait of a person was a self-endorsement unless it was in the form of, say, a signed picture sent by the celebrity to a fan.
If you are based in the UK then this shouldn't be a problem. Copyright certainly doesn't come into it, and there is no publicity right legislation in the UK either. As you have highlighted, the only possible issue might be one of false endorsement/passing-off. But if your intention is just to sell the portraits you make on their own, there will be no endorsement, and since there is no other product etc with goodwill attached to it, passing-off is not relevant here either. When I say 'product' I exclude the celebrity themself because obviously no-one would think that a portrait of a person was a self-endorsement unless it was in the form of, say, a signed picture sent by the celebrity to a fan.
Advice or comment provided here is not and does not purport to be legal advice as defined by s.12 of Legal Services Act 2007