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 About Copyright Law

Copyright law exists to protect the rights of creators of intellectual property. This includes all forms of artwork—such as paintings, music, sculpture, videos, and more. It also protects the use of images of famous individuals, except when those images are published as part of legitimate news reporting.

The United States has strong and detailed copyright laws. In the U.S., copyrights typically last for 70 years after the death of the creator. For works owned by companies—like Disney—copyrights can last 95 years from the date of publication.

Copyright law applies to all visual content: photos on the internet, images on calendars, magazines and other print materials and scenes or characters from movies. It also protects your own original work.

You cannot legally copy someone else's work for any purpose other than personal learning without the owner's explicit permission. For example, you can study and copy a piece of art to learn from it, but the moment you display that copy publicly, it is no longer considered educational use—even if you give credit to the original artist. Doing so without permission is still a violation of copyright law.  There are copyright free images available on the internet that might be useful as source material.  However, use of these images typically requires crediting the photographer.

If you want to create and share art based on someone else’s photos or original artwork, you must have their permission—especially if you plan to publish or post your work (such as in a gallery or on social media). If the original creator isn't a close friend or family member, it’s best to get that permission in writing.

Altering an image that is copyrighted does not change the copyright status. The original copyright holder still owns the rights to the original image and any derivative works created from it. No amount of alteration, no matter how significant, will transfer copyright to you or negate the original owner's rights. Copyright law protects the creator's exclusive rights to reproduce, distribute, display, perform, or adapt their creative work. This includes the right to create derivative works. Only the copyright holder of the original image has the right to create derivative works. Altering a copyrighted image without permission from the copyright holder is a copyright infringement. 

If you create a derivative work that is so significantly different from the original that it is no longer recognizable, it might be considered a transformative work and potentially avoid copyright infringement. However, this is a complex legal issue and depends on the specific facts of the case. 

 Note that creating copyrighted or free use images with permission would NOT result in creating an artwork that is your own composition and therefore would not be eligible for a TRA exhibit.