Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Alabama

In the course of designing a website, I have been asked by my client to use an image of a chart/illustration he found online (http://www.b-eye-network.com/blogs/hackathorn/IBM Optim framework.jpg). I explained to him that we can't just take images off the web and use them without the proper licensing / permission, but he says if we create our own from scratch with different colors/styles but basically the exact same wording/layout/etc, there should be no problem. That doesn't sound quite right to me - it seems like recreating the content of the chart and simply styling it differently could still be a copyright violation (as it would be if we were talking about a particular paragraph of text rather than an image). Which of us is right?


Asked on 4/05/12, 8:20 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Hunter Adams AdamsIP, LLC

Copyrights only protect original works of authorship. There is something called a derivative work, but that mostly is associated with making changes, alterations, etc. to the original work.

If your client makes up his own work, he can use it. However, if he is merely copying someone else's work, he cannot.

For example, if we both stared at a model and drew the exact same picture, we would both be free to use the pictures, and we could both get copyrights on our respective pictures. It wouldn't matter that they are of the exact same model, and are nearly identical--they are each original works of authorship.

If you need more assistance, please contact us.

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www.adamsiplaw.com

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Answered on 12/05/12, 11:54 am


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