Black Tear drop request

Depends.... if you are caught by the "hello kitty police" you would get a cease and desist letter, with a threatened lawsuit.

Disney does it regularly... if you DISPLAY images that are licensed you can get the letter and the threat. If you are seen painting them, ditto.

The owners of that purple dinosaur are the absolute worst though - they have actually bankrupted people for using purple dinosaur characters.

Those are LICENSED characters and to use them you need permission... legally.

Marvel tends to be a bit more relaxed - Spider-man being the face painters stock in trade as it were.

However, copyright law applies to everything - if you are using photographs that belong to someone else - say you copied them from the internet and put them up in your display - you are breaking the law. The owner of those photographs did not give you permission to use them. Just being on the internet does not make anything copyright free - as a matter of fact, copyright applies to everything ON the internet usless it expressly says it is copyright free.

Copyright law is mostly up to the owners to enforce - so if I find out someone is using my photos I send them an email or a letter telling them to immediately stop as they do not have my permission. I've had to do this a few times - people were using images they stole from my webpage and had posted them on their webpage claiming they were their own work, also has someone use my photos as part of their portfolio but they were busted because the person they were applying for a job from recognized my watermark and contacted me.

Even cutting up a book to display is breaking copyright law. Read the blurb in the book flypages.

Don't know about Canada but here's the link for US Copywright Law.... I downloaded the PDF "Copywright Basics" and it was very helpful.

http://www.copyright.gov/

how about designs in face painting books if you paint them on someone and then take a piture, where is the line?

That is fine. It is the photograph of the other artist's work that is copyright protected. The designs themselves are not copyrighted.

If you copy a design and take your own photo... that's perfectly legal, right, what it is there for, etc. etc.

Have you ever been given a cease and desist/threatened with a law suit? When I was in jewelry manufacturing we used to do knock offs (interpetations of the hot trend) of the high end lines and when the cease and desist came we stopped. Didn't happen often. Not that I am proud...just saying (it wasn't my company)

I haven't... but I am careful - I don't put up photos on my displays of the contentious licensed designs. And if I do a version of a licensed character I change it enough that it isn't EXACT and I don't use the same names... I'll use things like "spiderkid" or "turtle teen"...

In most cases you don't need to worry - just don't advertise them and post photos for commercial reasons. If a kid asks me to paint something I will paint it (as long as I can do it reasonably well - I need an image if I am not familiar with it).

Not all companies will be as protective of their licenses as Disney and the dinosaur people.

I have been painting for a year under a magician and now am taking the step to be more formal and I am investigating a lot of the legal. I am working on my website and I want to make sure I am as knowledgeable as possible. BTW I tried to order the cd's but had difficulty, please advise.
Thanks!

Lil Wayne has black tattooed tear drops. Three of them, in fact. I don't think he belongs to a gang or has murdered anyone.

While some children are mimicking gang symbolism, others just want to look like their favorite rap stars.

Having said that, as a rule, I wont paint black tear drops. When its been requested, I simply tell the kids, "nope, I'm not painting that." They always seem to know why, and don't debate the issue. They quickly choose something else, and I get on with the business of painting.

Mike Smith
www.merryfaces.com

Just as an FYI, the black teardrop can also signify that the wearer has lost a family member or a loved one. It may have started as a symbol of being in a gang or of committing murder, but in some areas/cultures it's evolved into a different meaning. Or it could just be that the kid thinks it looks cool because of Lil Wayne or anyone else he's seen with it.

That's not to say I would do it either. If anything, I would probably ask why he wants a black teardrop and if he had a good reason (i.e., in memory of a family member), I might do it. It's a tough call though. On the one hand, I wouldn't want to devalue something meaningful to another person by labeling it a symbol of violence. Then again, I would be wary of doing something that would most likely be misunderstood by other people if they saw it.

So all that to say...I dunno what I'd do. Maybe brainstorm with them other ideas for something to honor their loved one without the teardrop.

it makes me think of the movie Cry Baby.

I don't paint them.. most of the kids don't get what it means anyways.. I also don't do Spongebob or whatever because they just take too long and never look that great.. too much detail in one small area..

I have done white tear drops. No black.

As for copyrights, my "SpongeBob" does not look like enough like the cartoon SpongeBob to be a threat. The popular sports teams, I just contact them and ask, in writting. So far, no one has said no. I have generic "princesses", same coloring as the disney ones but no faces as they are check art. Not the same enough to violate laws. I have purchased a Mickey Mouse, Tiger and Tinkerbell stencil from the local hobby store. Buy purchasing these legally, I legally have the right to use them for their intended painting purpose.

However, in general, I try to stay away from using logos. Even though I have done them, I do not advertised them or have any on my site. I do not have them in my book as an option either.

I have painted faces I have seen done by other painters on my kids. It is the picture of my version I advertise and post on my site. Same for all the pictures in my portfolio. Never use someone elses picture as yours, even if you are just using it as an example. Paint your own and take a picture.

Every year, I get all my friends with younger kids together for a face painting party. All the parents sign releases so I can take as many pictures as I want. This is also my chance to practice timing, new ideas or a new set up/kit/paints.

It has become quite an event. I actually had too many kids this year.

I would be in trouble here if i didn't paint the rebel flag, as one of our major university teams are the Rebels, plus our state flag includes the rebel flag. I really think it comes down to what is meant by the design, rather than the design itself. Far too many good symbols are being used and associated with negative things. It really just depends on who is requesting the design and WHY.
The black teardrop though is one of the ones I will not paint because I have only ever seen it as the gang and prison related tattoo......a teardrop for every person you kill. Although a guy did tell me that the tattoo is to remind them of the pain they caused and is a form of repentance....don't know if it is true, so I just don't paint it because the only ones who have ever asked for it were young black guys who just wanted it so they could look cool to their friends.
I don't mind painting one under the eye on the cheek for a goth though.