copyright is complicated, and i am not an expert, just an interested amateur. here is what i understand about reference images, and i am pretty certain this is correct (i looked into this in detail when i started to make collages):
if you just trace the image in some manner, whether by hand or with software, it remains the original artist's. even if you freehand recreate it, if it looks basically the same (except you simplified it), it remains the original artists; those are all too derivative. basically, as long as one can put your copy next to the original and say "yup, B is based on A", you're in danger of violating copyright. oh, and the thing people seem to believe about changing 10% and it's yours? uh hn. it's more like, you can safely use 10%. and even that depends on whether it's a substantial part of the image. nobody cares if you do that for a journal userpic, but since you're planning to sell books, i would be extra careful.
that said, i'm fairly certain nobody will ever twig to it if you took the guy who's lying down, flipped him around, paste a different tree, paste another guy in, in another position. heck, use a whole different background; i think that would be safe. change his hair a bit, change the colour of his shirt or pants a bit. run a painterly p'shop effect or two over it.
in any case, it'd all be substantial photoshop work. and if that's the highest resolution you have, upsampling to what you need will be impossible anyway (i have software for that and can try it just to see -- what resolution and size do you need?).
maybe it'd be better to look at images of picnics, for example, and think whether you can imagine your characters in another pose. it'd be relatively easy IMO to make a modern image look more old-fashioned if historical accuracy of clothing isn't a big deal. with your budget, it might have to fall by the wayside.
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branchandroot
Re: Cover art hair tearing
Date: 2009-06-29 12:39 am (UTC)if you just trace the image in some manner, whether by hand or with software, it remains the original artist's. even if you freehand recreate it, if it looks basically the same (except you simplified it), it remains the original artists; those are all too derivative. basically, as long as one can put your copy next to the original and say "yup, B is based on A", you're in danger of violating copyright. oh, and the thing people seem to believe about changing 10% and it's yours? uh hn. it's more like, you can safely use 10%. and even that depends on whether it's a substantial part of the image. nobody cares if you do that for a journal userpic, but since you're planning to sell books, i would be extra careful.
that said, i'm fairly certain nobody will ever twig to it if you took the guy who's lying down, flipped him around, paste a different tree, paste another guy in, in another position. heck, use a whole different background; i think that would be safe. change his hair a bit, change the colour of his shirt or pants a bit. run a painterly p'shop effect or two over it.
in any case, it'd all be substantial photoshop work. and if that's the highest resolution you have, upsampling to what you need will be impossible anyway (i have software for that and can try it just to see -- what resolution and size do you need?).
maybe it'd be better to look at images of picnics, for example, and think whether you can imagine your characters in another pose. it'd be relatively easy IMO to make a modern image look more old-fashioned if historical accuracy of clothing isn't a big deal. with your budget, it might have to fall by the wayside.