Plagiarism

[Tony DCG]

I've often wondered about this and would like input from others.

If I shoot a hologram of a sculpture that may or may copy righted is that plagiarism or infringement?

Say an extreme case, a Mickey Mouse figure, I make a hologram of it, I imagine that is copyright infringement.

What if I chop Mickey's head off and replace it with a skull is it now my own art?

What about in the case of say a style of art that you like. Say you see a still life sculpture of two apples and a grapefruit it inspires you to make a hologram of it, You find two apples and a grapefruit maybe add a few kiwis and arrange it similar to the original and then make a hologram. Is that plagiarism? If not plagiarism is it artistically ethical?

Is changing the medium from say sculpture to hologram a big enough difference to make it your own art work?

Thanks all!!

[jsfisher]

IANAL, but...

In the statue example, both the hologram (or photograph or...) and the "replace the head with a skull" would come under "derivative works" protection under copyright.

The still life example, not so much. Neither the apples nor grapefruit would be protected under copyright, just like words themselves cannot be protected, and for both words and fruit, their significant arrangement as a new and unique expression would be an original work.

[Tony DCG]

Thanks Jeff

That was very informative.