Anthony DiPierro wrote:
When one wants to write free text about Darth Vader, one reads other
(usually proprietary) writings and then summarizes them in one's own
words. Likewise, when one wants to draw a free image of Darth Vader
shouldn't one view other (usually proprietary) images and then
summarize them with one's own artwork?
If that were true, then one could draw original comic strips or
animated television cartoons featuring Star Wars characters without
needing any kind of license or permission from anybody. But a quick
Googling for ' movie merchandising copyright ' turns up sites like
http://www.marklitwak.com/articles/general/movie_merchandising.html ,
in which Mark Litwak, Esq. generously offers a sample merchandising
license, wherein we read
"... Licensor grants to Licensee [...] the exclusive right, license
and privilege to utilize the names, characters, artists' portrayal
of characters, likenesses and visual representations as included
in Picture ..."
and so forth. In other words, the pros at this have already figured
out all the tricky angles. :-)
Stan
You're comparing Apples and Oranges here. Drawing an image of Darth
Vader and putting it in an encyclopedia is not the same as making a
comic strip or cartoon of Darth Vader.
Likewise, if you wrote a book about the adventures of Darth Vader,
you'd get sued and most likely lose (even under the fairly liberal
fair use laws). But if you write an encyclopedia article about Darth
Vader you won't (even without any fair use laws at all).
Anthony