Tarot Art

[Girl Archer]

Hi! My friend is designing clothes with Tarot Art on them and I was wondering if anyone could help me find a female Magician. I love the impact that card has on me, and I have so far given her the Sun, the Star (Halloween Deck), Queen of Wands as ideas. I am planning to use warm, happy shades so I am looking for a female Magician who would fit the bill when sewn on to....red maybe? She is already making a cream colored silk/cotton mix kurta with the Star on it with lots of blues and silvers.

Any help would be much appreciated

 

[gregory]

Is this for her own use ? If she plans to sell them, she will be in breach of copyright if she doesn't get permission. And trust me - the big companies do check...

Just in case...

 

[Girl Archer]

Oh dear, I never thought of it. However, she is not making them for profit. She is just making them for me and a few for herself, just for fun. Just to be clear, are you saying that I'd have to get permission to..say, paint The Star on my t-shirt? Or make a bag featuring a card from any particular deck? She can do this so long as there is no profit making involved right? Who do we take permission from anyway? Creators of RWS and other decks?

 

[BrightEye]

I think you're alright as long is it's for your own use. If you wanted to sell these items for profit, then you'd have get permission to use the images, which usually entails paying a copyright fee.

 

[gregory]

Publishers. (You'd have trouble contacting Pamela Colman Smith... ) USG believe the RWS is still in their copyright; opinions differ. The Hallowe'en is certainly theirs. There is contact info on their website.

I think you'll be OK if you PAINT (or even embroider) one on your own shirt - it would be effectively a new work of art. But selling would be TOTALLY not OK, if - say - she had actually scanned them and printed them onto T-shirts, for instance.

Slightly grey area here; just be careful, is all !

THAT's odd. BE's post didn't show after I posted mine - just OP, mine, OP's response and my response.... Then I refreshed and... Hm...

 

[Girl Archer]

thanks for clearing that up I have a question. What if I scanned the images and then printed it on to a tee, but only for my use and not with any profit making motive?

The complications involved are almost enough to discourage me. I do not want to find myself or put my friend in the midst of one big, ugly lawsuit. Although I know, going all the way would be totally worth it, because I would then be the owner of something so beautiful, magical and totally unique

 

[gregory]

thanks for clearing that up I have a question. What if I scanned the images and then printed it on to a tee, but only for my use and not with any profit making motive?

The complications involved are almost enough to discourage me. I do not want to find myself or put my friend in the midst of one big, ugly lawsuit. Although I know, going all the way would be totally worth it, because I would then be the owner of something so beautiful, magical and totally unique

Ummmm. I THINK you'd PROBABLY be OK, but don't wear it around anyone from USG...

People do it. We all know people do it. People even sell this stuff on ebay. But - here in particular - it is very much frowned upon to risk ANY copyright breaches - that's why we cannot link to certain sites that show full decks which breach copyright and so on.

In your place I think I would try and draw it with fabric crayons....

 

[bogiesan]

Researching "intellectual property law" is not difficult. There is a complete website from the US government dedicated to the topic.
The distinction between "for profit" and "fair use" is no longer a gray area. The recently adopted international copyright protection agreements are pretty much black and white these days.

 

[gregory]

The distinction - in terms of images - between "slavish reproduction" and original artwork is still very grey indeed. wikicommons (I think) is arguing the point as we type.

 

[Girl Archer]

Thanks y'all. I will make sure to check that out and not violate any copyright laws.