"paintings as illustrations to rulesets" Topic

I`ve found quite a few absolutely spiffing paintings to illustrate my rules (I do intend to sell them btw)… but how if you`ve published yours, did you check for copyright?
I`m wondering how all those images got on to various rule set covers for instance… like Legacy of Glory`s, and General de Brigade`s.

Any advice you can give would be appreciated!

I know that some people have paid to use the material in rules sets and I know that in a couple of cases, the illustrator granted the rights free as a form of advertising.

You'll have to check intellectual property rights law , copyright law etc.
Paintings can be tricky: they might be in the public domain, but there is something called the right of reproduction -- important for museums or the current owner of a work.

Nod, Phil Dutre. Public domain does not always mean free.

A good way to go is to buy an old book with 'out of copyright illustrations'… scan them and their yours… plus you get a nice book! it varys but out of copyright can mean 70 yrs after creators death or 100 yrs after publication. I paid about 50 euros for a beautifully illustrated boys own books called 'Autour du Drapeau Tricolore' … I've posted some of the pics on armchair general forum here:

link

I use them as backgrounds in my own printed sheets.

If it's of interest all my illustrations exist as B&W line drawings and make buisy battlefield compositions,,, obviously limited to the drawing i've so far made and my style is just that, but you're welcome to use them freely. If your not familiar, google walkerloo and you'll arrive at my site.

You can also alter the images to make them your own, á la Andy Warhol and the soup cans.

If you take a famous old painting from the 1850s and muck it around a bit in Photoshop, then it no longer matters what book you scanned it from, or which website you got it from.

Actually, Phil Dutre, not exactly.

It depends on which country you are talking about. The United States does NOT, repeat NOT, provide any copyright protection for exact reproductions of two dimensional art (paintings) already in the Public Domain.

The case law is Bridgeman Art Gallery v Corel and here is the link from Wikipedia – link

This ruling absolutely infuriates our British cousins, whose laws do afford such protection due to "sweat of brow" used in making reproductions, or at least legal opinions within the UK do lean that way. Other nations also afford such protection, but NOT the US.

I've gone through this with my own rules, and in the Cyber age it gets real complicated. Note this recent article on a case that is related to Bridgeman – link

I doubt you'll ever get hassled over such a low print run, or given the image could come from anywhere, but be careful.

Regards, Bill Gray
ageofeagles.com

Thanks chaps,

but I`m thinking it might be easier not to bother after all and go for the odd photo of miniatures instead?