Questions tagged [derivative-work]
The derivative-work tag has no usage guidance.
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Could I write a "Parry Hotter" novel?
There is a question over at the Writing SE which was wondering whether J. K. Rowling would consent to somebody writing a Harry Potter sequel. The answer was, predictably in hindsight, "you would ...
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How can saying a song's name be a copyright violation?
I received an E-mail newsletter inviting me to watch a chorus perform several songs that were arranged for this occasion. They are also selling tickets, so I don't know if half of the profit is sent ...
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How much of this image do I need to modify in order to avoid copyright violation?
There is a browser game that I want to port the Android. The problem is I do not want to use the same image assets because of copyright violations.
Would this example be enough to prevent a ...
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How close to, or how far from, copyright violation is the movie "Gattaca"?
In 1942 a novel appeared: Beyond This Horizon by Robert Heinlein.
The setting is a future time when it has become standard that people's genes are chosen from among their parents' genes by doctors, ...
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Fair Use of Photos as a Derivative Work
This question comes specifically from a particular example. Within Ethics for the Information Age (Quinn), 5th Edition, there is a chapter on Intellectual Property, and while most of it is well-...
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Is it copyright infringement to make a derivative work for personal use in the US?
In this comment, user253751 writes:
You cannot create derivative works without permission of the copyright holder (even if you create it and keep it to yourself)
really? That seems unconstitutional ...
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How does copyright apply to rules, eg ISO standards?
As I understand it, copyright applies to creative expression and not for examples rules of games. Does this also apply to the ISO standards (example, costs CHF 158)? For example, could one re-write ...
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Are online file converters legal?
Online file converter: Web-based tool or service that allows you to convert files from one format to another through the internet. Users upload a file in a specific format, it is converted on the site'...
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Do I own derivatives of my music if I released it under CC without the SA provision?
If I release music under the Creative Commons 4.0 license, without the ShareAlike provision (CC-BY-NC), do I still have the right to use derivatives of my own music however I want, as the creator of ...
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Is rendering Markdown to HTML considered an "adaptation" under CC BY-SA 3.0?
Title pretty much sums it up. Are the rights given to adaptations granted if someone renders Markdown?
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What is considered a derivative work?
US Copyright law defines "derivative work":
A “derivative work” is a work based upon one or more preexisting works, such as a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization, ...
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Are lone excerpts considered derivative works?
Specific context:
I am in the United States as is the owner of the work.
The work is licensed under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0
Someone has digitized a public domain reference dictionary and posted it on the ...
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Does saying that a work of art was inspired by another work mean the former is a derivative work?
Say a composer read a poem. The poem is the published work of a living poet and obviously protected by copyright. This composer was inspired by the poem, and down the road he has written a piece of ...
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Copyright of derived works without permission
Say Alice produces a copyrighted work. Bob then creates a remix of Alice's work without license or permission to do so, thus violating Alice's copyright.
Does Bob still hold the copyright over the ...
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If I use CC-BY-SA image in a video, must the whole video be CC-BY-SA?
I would like to use an image from Wikipedia, licensed with Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC-BY-SA) license, as a part of my video. The image would appear in its original form, possibly ...
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Do I have copyright in a semi-diplomatic transcription?
I'm a member of a small team of volunteers who have transcribed and translated several 17th century documents (in abbreviated Latin). The documents obviously are long out of copyright (if copyright ...
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Can I port something distributed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States license?
I'm a software engineer and I'd like to port (translate) a library from programming language A to programming language B.
The library is distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-...
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Copyright law and distribution terms for public versions or derivatives
The present question is a special case of Can one take BSD licensed code and distribute it under GPL?.
Looking recently at OpenBSD's LibreSSL, I've noticed that SSLeay that it traces its roots to (...
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Can Disney use its trademarks to stop reproductions of Mickey Mouse even after "Steamboat Willie" enters the public domain?
Steamboat Willie will enter the public domain in the USA in 2024. Does this mean that people in the USA will then be able to reproduce the Mickey Mouse depicted in that film and make derivative works ...
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Are fanarts, fansongs, etc not illegal? Then why aren't they being taken down?
Youtube is plagued by works of this kind:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MRhRaWNaSPM
Deviantart is plagued by works of this kind:
https://www.deviantart.com/harwicks-art/art/Know-When-to-Fold-Em-...
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Can you reuse the text of a contract you've signed with one party with another party?
Relations between individuals and business entities are governed by law; what's not specified in the law, can be specified by a mutually-executed contract. Generally, one party provides the actual ...
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Copying a parody of a movie using a fan's 3D model
I really like a board game. This game includes artistic references (as parody) to a well-known movie.
I wanted to improve the pieces of the board game (which were 2-dimensional) to augment my own ...
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Are instructions for creating a derivative work, themselves a derivative work?
If I loaded a copy of Toy Story into my video editor and cut it up to change it into a story where Woody actually killed Buzz Lightyear and is subsequently executed for it by Sid, agent of justice, ...
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What is the copyright status, in the US, of the old USSR textbooks?
The textbooks published in the USSR had their copyright listed as "The Ministry of Education of the USSR." I am not interested in the "author rights." I am only interested in the ...
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Does a 3D print of a CAD file constitute a derivative work?
This came up in a comment discussion on a news story of someone selling prints of models that were licensed CC-BY-NC-ND.
Ignoring that the seller themselve seems pretty clueless and we can disregard ...
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Is an adaptation or translation of a public domain hymn also in the public domain?
In Christian hymnbooks today it is common to find hymns that were written in the 1700s or 1800s. However, most of the time these hymns have been adapted, to modernize older language, or to adjust the ...
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Is modifying software and creating derivative works synonymous?
When granting a software license:
the right to modify the software
the right to create derivative works
Are these two distinct rights or the one and the same right said in two different ways?
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What is the Intellectual Property Status of a Course based on a Text Book?
When creating a course, even if you do not use figures or material from the book, might follow the flow or structure of the book to a certain extent.
I guess you might also be able to use some ...
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Why is a cover song not fair use? (But parody songs are?)
Considering fair use law, parody, transformative works: Weird Al always asks for permission for his parodies but many law professionals have stated he would not have to.
Considering all this, why does ...
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Is each version of a software considered a "derivative work"?
Originally asked in Software Engineering but a user raised it is more a legal question than an engineering one.
Let's suppose there is a software at version a1 in code repository A on an online code ...
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Can I quote an article which license is CC-BY-ND
I have a question about direct quotations (i.e. "copy-and-paste" portions of a work - with ellipses "[...]" if necessary -) and paraphrasing the content of a text article which license is CC-BY-ND. As ...
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How is derivative text material copyrighted within an older manuscript?
This is an addendum to to a previous question: How is the copyright of the derivative work dated? For example; an author writes a book in 2009 and in 2020, re-edits the book with new material. Does ...
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Are olympiad problems and standardized exams copyrighted?
If they are, can anyone change the wording of the exercises and use them? Also could that person be in another country and translate the exercises to another language?
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Is creating a simulator/mock of an API considered "derivative work"?
We have a number of clients integrating their software with a specific third party service via a HTTP REST API. In order for our clients to be able to test efficiently their software we need to create ...
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Creating a cover song for a video game
Based on some cursory internet searches, I understand the following:
If you create a cover song, you still need a license for it from whoever owns the original song.
If you want to put a song in a ...
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To what extent do I have the right to quote other works to parody or reference them?
Do I have the right to have my character "blast off at the speed of light" as a reference to Pokemon's Team Rocket Trio?
Do I have the right to have my character lock another character in an office ...
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Can I republish my derivative work using a new license?
Some background: the System Reference Document 5.1 ("SRD5") is an original work owned by Wizards of the Coast ("WotC"). WotC currently authorizes derivative works of SRD5 using two ...
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In the US, is ink transfer from poster to canvas a copyright infringement (outside of Ninth Circuit)?
I ask because Canada and the EU's top courts have come to different conclusions. In Allposters, C‑419/13, the CJEU ruled that though the adaptation/derivative right was not harmonized within the EU, ...
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Fictional Character Copyright?
Person 1 creates a fictional character and said character fits guidelines to pass both the Well-Delineated test and the Sam Spade test. The character has a well-detailed description, personality and ...
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Why are app mods often illegal, but Chrome extensions are seemingly not?
It seems that app mods, such as for games, are generally considered to be derivative works and thus illegal. Chrome extensions, though, don't have the same reputation, even for the well-known ...
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How is a derivative work defined wrt "low entropy" artwork
CryptoPunks are a set of 10,000 Ethereum-based NFTs, each token corresponding to a unique 24 x 24 pixel cartoonish figure. They have been automatically generated from human generated components ...
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If a group of photos of apple is used as reference to paint a painting of an apple, does the painter infringe copyright of the photographers?
Say, a group of photographers, Alice, Bob and Craig, take photographs of a non-copyrighted everyday object, an apple. Then, they decide to showcase it in public (without relinquishing any copyrights ...
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Can cropping a sprite invalidate copyright?
US Law — Can cropping (sub-sampling) a copyrighted work in some cases be considered an original work that I can copyright?
In general, I understand I can't use art from a copyrighted video game for ...
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When is a summary a derivative work?
When is a summary a derivative work such that it needs the fair use defense to be legal? For example, consider the following:
Farm boy fights evil empire.
I don't think that this summary of the ...
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Copyright ownership rights of modified software
Say that I buy a ready-built marketplace platform that is a script sold on codecanyon, re-make that platform more than 60%, and basically make it work entirely different than what it was originally.
...
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When the Director differs from the script
Let's assume Alice wrote a bestseller. Then she made a script from it. This script is then given to the movie studio in Hollywood, who contracts Director Bob to make the actual film. The studio doesn'...
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Original work or derivative work if published posthumously and never previously registered?
I'm trying to determine how a literary work should be registered -- as a derivative work with two authors, or as a derivative work with me as claimant and author? Or neither? Details:
My mother wrote ...
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Is copying an infringing derivative an infringement against the original work's author when copying the original would generally be legal?
Suppose someone creates an unauthorized music video to accompany a popular song, thus making an infringing derivative (assuming fair dealing or other exceptions don't apply in this case). This ...
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Legality of selling transcription services on copyrighted material?
I provide an audio transcription service, for which I charge according to the audio length. Mostly I receive either audios or videos that have been produced by the person or organisation that sent me ...
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Copyright and Encrypted Backups
A person's computer stores a variety of copyrighted files which they have a license to use and store (such as video games, operating system files, and purchased or freely available media). However, ...
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