What constitutes a violation of copyright or trademark laws?
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What constitutes a violation of copyright or trademark laws?
I am an artist who charges for services only. If I mostly paint nerdy stuff like game themes and cartoon characters. If I have a gallery of my paintings as
Asked on April 6, 2016 under Business Law, Utah
Answers:
SJZ, Member, New York Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 8 years ago | Contributor
It is a violation of copyright and/trademark to create an image of a copyrighted or trademarked character when you are paid to do so; there is no exception to intellectual property law for "commissioned or paid to paint" or "the customer asked me to do it"--you are violating the rights owner's intellectual property rights as surely as if you chose yourself to paint the image or character. Those cakes you refer to are also violations; most small violations may never be detected, or if detected, the rights holder may choose to not take action, but that doesn't change the fact that it is a violation.
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