Art Post 15 Can’t Process Any More Copyright

Hello everyone! I originally planned on figuring out art-related copyright laws until I understood them, but I think I need to process what I’ve learned and take a pause. Regarding the issue I had about using a copyrighted photograph as an illustration reference, my impression is that technically it was okay, since I used it in an educational capacity for myself. I believe this is allowed under “fair use.” 

Then do I sign my name on the image? What rights do I have over that illustration? Do add the name of the photographer? Do I state it was used educationally? It’s too confusing!

I drew a picture from this photo to learn. If I share that picture inside an art school, or to my neighbor, or to a gas station attendant, there would be no problem. But if I post it online, that is bad? Then aren’t I being penalized for being self-taught and not having a real life art community? 

In real life and digital art classes, every instructor of every class I ever took has emphasized _reference, reference, reference._ I have never heard an instructor say, “Don’t steal other people’s art.” The notion is so lowbrow and shameful that I don’t think any instructor actually felt the need to put it into words. It would be like telling students not to eat the graphite inside the pencil. 

Maybe once, someone mumbled, “just don’t copy the reference image too much.” Beyond that, I didn’t get a sense that things were so restrictive. Otherwise, no one would ever be able to draw anything! There would be no accuracy, no cool world-building, no sweet little touches. 

Copyrighted characters and music are always used in the classroom. It makes sense: if a student wants to work for a big comic book or animation company, isn’t it good to have years of practice drawing the characters and learning the style under professional instruction? Teachers might use popular characters to demonstrate concepts. Students might use popular characters in assignments such as making movie posters. These are just a few examples of why fair use is necessary. 

I just don’t get it. How can you draw if you are always worried about causing legal infringement? That is no environment to draw, especially not for learning how to draw. 

In conclusion, it seems like so much of this is a gray area. I wanted clear answers, but unfortunately for my brain, there aren’t many. People seem to operate in a gray zone. I will just keep trying to do right thing and the common sense thing. 

Asya