Image Gallery and Plug-in Developers

Guest_UE_Research & Development_*

The Image Gallery is a nice place to browse for pictures of different ships and miscellanea related to EVN. However, I was wondering...

- As someone who is, has, and will be drawing much concept art in the near future for a project of mine, I occasionally wander through the Image Gallery for inspiration. Of course, it's wrong to just copy a ship without asking the author, but I wanted to know...if you're inspired by something you see to a certain degree, should you credit the author of that picture?

- If you see something you like and draw/design/model something, can it be 'similar' to the original? How 'different' should it look as not to infringe upon someone else's intellectual property?

I haven't had this issue yet, but I may in the future. I wanted to hear your thoughts on the issue, and on the general use of the Image Gallery.

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Mazca

Quote

Originally posted by UE_Research & Development:
**The Image Gallery is a nice place to browse for pictures of different ships and miscellanea related to EVN. However, I was wondering...

- As someone who is, has, and will be drawing much concept art in the near future for a project of mine, I occasionally wander through the Image Gallery for inspiration. Of course, it's wrong to just copy a ship without asking the author, but I wanted to know...if you're inspired by something you see to a certain degree, should you credit the author of that picture?

- If you see something you like and draw/design/model something, can it be 'similar' to the original? How 'different' should it look as not to infringe upon someone else's intellectual property?

I haven't had this issue yet, but I may in the future. I wanted to hear your thoughts on the issue, and on the general use of the Image Gallery.

**

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Inspiration is fine - if your final product looks remarkably similar, then by all means mention the originator, but if you just got some ideas from their picture then I doubt you'd ever have a problem.

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what_is_the_matrix

My opinion is thus: artists feed off of each others, especially in such a close-knit community like the image board (if you look at it, not many people post images there - though we won't shut you out either), so many people take inspiration from other people's work, or maybe take it to another level. If you're simply basing certain elements off of another's (maybe an interesting placement of a wing, or something), then it's not necessary to mention them, although it's polite (artists tend to have big egos - heck, I freely admit it - and getting your name mentioned will tend to puff that up, and maybe they'll try to take inspiration from your work some day). If your design is remarkably similar because you liked their design and wanted to have your own take on it, then you should say that you based your design on someone else's. Now certain elements like many "standard" wing shapes (stuff you might see on today's aircraft/spaceraft), canards, "bubble" canopies, jet engines, gun shapes, and some overall shapes can and will be common to many designs, so I believe that it's not necessary to cite anyone. If anyone protests, then you should try to explain yourself - maybe you came up with a design independently of someone, but the end result was similar. Recently (a couple months ago?) someone posted remakes of other people's ships and didn't mention that he was trying to duplicate them to prove the abilities of Strata to a friend. In that case, it almost implied that he was trying to pass off someone else's designs as his own (though he wasn't). If that happens, and the original artist is offended, I think that all that should be necessary is an apology posted to the thread, and the original post changed to reflect the original artist's creative input. Of course, cases are different for each artist, so it's up to the board to decide.

Matrix

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(This message has been edited by what_is_the_matrix (edited 11-15-2003).)

mrxak

Don't worry too much about it. There are only so many things that can be aesthetically pleasing. If you get inspired, you get inspired. As long as something isn't too closely copied, there shouldn't be any problem at all.

Kame

I think if something inspires you to do your own work then there's no problem. If something inspires you to copy then there is a problem. I guess use your best judgement. Personally, though the idea scares me a little, only because (although I rarely post) the ships I post are ones I am actively using in a plug. I know others occasionally do the same. I'd be a little put off if I found that someone had used my ship in their plug - especially without asking. I think in the end I'd say, if it looks remarkable similar to the source, just ask the original creator. Just in addition, I'm terrible at designing ships. I have absolutely no creativity for it and when I do come up with something the design is way beyond my modeling skills. But rather than just copy some cool ship I saw, I'll go downtown, have a cup of chai and just sit for a couple hours brainstorming ideas, away from anything I could just copy. If I want to add some features that I've seen on other designs but usually I can safely say that the design is mine.

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Martin Turner

I don't really post on the image board. However, I have never had any objection to anyone being inspired by my offerings and if I did, my objections would have no legal meaning. If someone came up with something which wasn't an exact copy (eg, a cut copy and paste with some modifications) of what I'd done, but was so similar that it looked like one of mine, I would actually be quite impressed I would think, here is someone who thinks the same way I do.

Most of the investment of the artist isn't in making the particular picture, but in developing the skills to be able to create that picture. If someone has developed their own skills, the fact that they choose to exercise them in a particular style doesn't detract from the fact that they had done the work themselves.

On the other hand, if I had posted a number of Bryce or Strata source files on the web, and someone simply rendered them or rearranged them, I would expect some kind of credit they would in a real sense be starting with my materials. If they really did nothing to make them their own, I would feel kind of cheated. Also, copyright law would be on my side (not that anybody would ever pursue it).

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Dimpfinator

It is my belief that there are more grapics artists out there, who simply do not have the hosting to post on the Image Gallery. I am one of them. I would like to post, but I can't because of that. Nevermind not having much time due to College Applications, and SAT II's. Ah well...

~Dimpfinator

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Quote

Originally posted by Dimpfinator:
**It is my belief that there are more grapics artists out there, who simply do not have the hosting to post on the Image Gallery. I am one of them.

~Dimpfinator

**

Me too. Webspace for poor artists anyone?

Anyway, about the real topic. There is nothing wrong about getting ideas and being inspired from other peoples work, Everyone does it. But it would be nice if the original artist got some credit, just something along the lines of 'This was Inspired by Mr. Whoevers Ship he posted here sometime ago' and maybe a link to his post.

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