There's a website with tributes to the Beatles' Minis if you're interested in finding it. Nice follow through, Gromit 801.

 

Exactly. Ask your daughter if she's heard of the "NO SPEC" campaign.

If Steve Jobs can't convince them to put their songs on iTunes, good luck with unlicensed images.

 

If you just wanted a window sticker of the Beatles logo (like in post #23), could you buy the CD, cut out the artwork, laminate it and stick it in your window? It seems like that would be legal, but I'm not familiar with all of the laws regarding protected works.

 

That would probably work, because you're using a product you already bought.

The main issue here, is having a graphics shop do the artwork, and sell it to you. THAT's where the laws get broken.

 

Just googled some "NO SPEC" stuff. That lit some fires, I'd guess.

 

She might like this too:

http://www.graphicdesignforum.com/

 

Yeah, I think she showed that to me one day when she was trying to prove a point (on my PC -man, she hates touching the mouse on this thing! It ain't Apple -it sucks! Oh, well, I raised her to be independant... reap what you sow).
-s-

 

What an incredibly intelligent daughter you have!

The very first mod ever done to my Mini? The application of the Apple sticker to the rear window at the dealer on delivery day.

 

I doubt many pc users rushed to get a Windows Flag sticker on their back window...
'course the Linux does have that cute penquin...
I keep busy fixing friends and neighbors 'puters in my spare time. Hers? I've never had to touch it. gotta love it.
-skip-

 

Just get a vynl shop to do it.

 

The heart of this discussion is that a vinyl shop would be breaking a number of Federal and International copyright laws to create that graphic and sell it.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong Gromit801, but if you say just painted the logo of your choice on the roof (or whatever) without any intention of making money for it -just 'cuz you like it- that wouldn't be breaking copyright statutes?

 

So, if someone were to draw freehand their idea of the beatles album cover and submit it for reproduction would that be considered a copyright infringement?

 

As long as he did it himself and there wasn't any compensation involved, it should be legal. I'd imagine that'd fall under "Fair Use".

 

That depends on how different it was from the original. You can't simply trace a logo on your own, then copyright it as original work.

 

Agreed, but what about freehand, no tracing, no transposing onto a wall and tracing, just freehand? An individual's interpretation of the album cover, no matter how close to the original, but done freehand.

 

As far as I know, the laws don't stipulate the method of reproduction. If you have a shop produce a graphic that roughly resembles the Beatles one, even if you drew it yourself, chances are there are copyright laws being broken...

 

Thanks. Not that I have an intention of reproducing anything or that I think it would be alright but I was just curious. I have done artwork before, never for profit, always because I like it and I pretty much always give it away as a gift when completed. When I first started I used to use another person's art to mimic since I wasnt skilled enough to understand how to make art from a picture that looked like the art I was using to learn from. After awhile I could do a decent enough job from a photo. Now I may look at another artist's work for inspiration or to view a technique but I never use anyone's original artwork to produce my own anymore.

 

I think that when push comes to shove, it would all be decided by courts and lawyers. Which is kinda sad, art doesn't belong in that environment (logic and 'just the facts, m'am.)

 

"License and registration, Sir; I've pulled you over for ILLEGALLY adhering THE Beatles logo from Ringo Star's kick drum head on the roof of this MINI. We had an APB out for this and we finally gotchya!" Nyuck nyuck.

I wouldn't think twice about it. DO it. And please post pics. I like the Beatles too. :-)

 

As long as the art was not produced commercially, or with the intention to sell it in anyway, or make any money on it (ANY money), you should be good to go.

Now, where it could get sticky for others, is if a photo of the art appeared in a publication, like say MC2, which is sold for profit. That's on MC2's head.

 

So theft is ok with you? As a graphic artist, that kind of crap just pisses me off.

 

Never a thief.
One person wants to promote this very well-to-do band by putting a sticker on the roof of their MINI? Jeeze... how horrific?
I'm a musician (sort of artistic, too, I suppose) who thinks that copying music and distributing it freely (or for $$) is a big problem. I don't do it with music but I have put stickers of my favorite band on my vehicles.
Come on, let the person put The Beatles logo on the roof of their MINI. My god. I don't know a single musician that doesn't love free promotion of their name. Non?

 

If I may play devil advocate for just a minute, something instead the "cause I want to" argument.....
I completely understand licensing and the need for it so artist can be justly compensated for their work. But, for the op, he/she wants to use their MINI as a tribute to their favorite artist. The op does not plan to profit from it, though the person doing the work will.
Having an airbrush artist paint a licensed image on a t shirt instead of buying the licensed original or copying your friends cd so you don't have to buy it is clearly wrong.
But, movie, music and sports stars have fans that wish to pay tribute to them, sometimes in creative ways, but may not have the talent to do the work themselves.
So, if I wanted to have a painter come to my house and paint a large Queensryche logo in my fun room, technically wouldn't that violate copyright laws? Same with a tattoo. But I would like to think the band would be flattered.

 

I think the consensus all along has been that there's probably not a legal/ethical issue with *displaying* the Beatles logo (or a Queensryche logo, or a tattoo of a protected image). The problem comes from the artist (be it vinyl, paint, or tattoo ink) making money by reproducing protected works.

If you have a creative idea but don't have the talent to execute it yourself, the right thing to do is for the artist to obtain permission from the rights holder before reproducing a protected image for profit.