Can I get sued for selling fan art?

Technically speaking, there’s nothing illegal in the US about making and selling fan art because copyright isn’t enforced criminally. Rather, copyright owners enforce their rights by suing infringers in federal civil court.

What are the laws on selling fan art?

The answer is, if you are creating fan art whether for profit or not, any copyrighted character or use of trademark in a description or title without prior written consent from the copyright owner, then selling fan art is illegal but making fan art is not illegal.

Is it legal to make a copy of a painting?

Yes, it’s legal to make a copy of a painting for personal use. If you want to copy it to help you develop your painting skills, that’s fine. If you want to copy it and try to sell it, that’s illegal. You can’t enter it in a competition, or try to get a gallery to display it as if it’s your own.

Is tracing art stealing?

Like literary plagiarism, art plagiarism also comes in many forms such as theft and tracing. Art theft is the “obvious” stealing of artwork and publishing it as your own art. On the other hand, tracing is an act of duplicating the original artwork either with little or no change at all.

Is it OK to trace images?

Tracing an image can help you focus on the physical demands of drawing without worrying about whether you’re getting it right. It can help you develop hand-eye coordination and muscle memory that are important for controlling the materials of drawing. It’s like a kind of rehearsal for your future drawing development.

How do you reference an image without violating copyright?

Discover six types of images and how to use them online.

Use Public Domain Images (a.k.a. ‘No Copyright’ Images) Public Domain images have no copyright because:
Use Creative Commons Images.
Use Stock Photos.
Use Your Own Images.
Use Social Media Images Only with Permission.
Avoid Using GIFs.

Is drawing from a photo cheating?

Drawing from photos can be considered bad practice if the artist is a slave to their reference. It can inhibit the artist from experimenting freely, stilt creativity, and their ability to develop their own style. Cameras also distort perspective and overload the eye with too much detail.

Do hyper realistic artists trace?

“Optical devices certainly don’t paint pictures.” That said, tracing is an excellent way to learn how to draw. Hyperrealists, who spend upwards of hundreds of hours on their work rely on tracing -because if even the tiniest little detail is in the wrong place it will throw the whole painting off.

Is realism just copying?

So instead of putting a lot of effort in understanding the painting they just ignore it, and don’t consider it as a good art. And yes, it is a real art form as long as it is not just a copy of a photo. Some hyper realist paint leaning towards surrealism and some like illustration.