Tracing a photo of a castle that I took HALP

[tarynvolk]

Okay I just started making my comic, and Im having a hard time with the backgrounds. So i went through some old photos that I took in Japan and I found one of Himeji Castle. I ended up tracing the photo and changing some things here and there. Hypothetically, could I use this drawing in my own comic, even though it is a famous historical place? I took the photo myself, im just not sure if I can trace a pic of a castle and call it mine. PLEASE HALP

[silverraven0]

The photo is yours, so it's justified that it is yours. As for the castle, as long as you make a change and didn't completely copying it when the setting of the castle is some random castle somewhere that is not exist in real world, that's fine. If it is a historical site that exist it's probably okay to just copy it?

(Nah, man, that just my two cents. I might be wrong)

[skicoak]

You want to be careful with recognizable buildings and landmarks. Many of them have trademarks and protections that aren't always general knowledge.

For example...

Why it is illegal to take photos of the Eiffel Tower at night time

[tarynvolk]

Okay, thank you so much! I wasn't aware that you could get in trouble, and wanted to make sure.

[tarynvolk]

That's what I was thinking to. I think I am just going to change it up A LOT haha just that no one really knows

[Rage_The_Dragoon]

Wow...thanks for sharing. That has to be the most retarted article I've come across in a long time.
And it is also in violation with the right to take pictures of artwork in a public domain.

Just because a couple of lights are arranged together and someone called it "art"
doesn't exclude the right you have to take a picture in a public domain and use it how you see fit.

[vothnthorvaldson]

Yeah, the 'article' is completely misleading and ultimatly, completely stupid. What would people not do to sell their 'torchons' newspapers (litteraly 'ragged towels').

[skicoak]

Host countries determine the law... tourists don't get to determine what they do or do not do based on their native countries. If France says it's illegal, then it's illegal in France.

[vothnthorvaldson]

It is not illegal in France. It is a very bad interpretation of the law, done to make a 'scandalous' article. In theory there COULD be an issue. In pratice there is no.

[skicoak]

Keep in mind, commercial use isn't just limited to making "profits". Many forms of mass distribution qualify.

Landmarks You're Not Allowed To Photograph-DIY Photography

[skicoak]

It is not illegal in France.

It's illegal.

Just because it's not heavily/actively prosecuted, doesn't change the law.

[vothnthorvaldson]

But if you go that far, then the lights are illegal too. It was discussed thoroughly. If you follow the law strictly in this type of case, you are always illegal on something.

[Kotopopi]

I've been living in France for the past 10 years, I have many photographer friends and I myself make a comic about Paris, so I had to have a look into this. It's true that in most cases the law isn't inforced, but in case they wanted, they could.
Professional photographers tend to avoid including famous monuments in their commercial pictures for this reason.
Paris is a mineland for photographers
I think that with comics they're way more permissive, but I also includes pictures in my comics, so..
I just pay attention to what I do

[Eightfish]

1) Of course you're not going to get in trouble. This is a webcomic, and you're not making money off of it.

2) I still wouldn't call it "your's" though. I (and likely most readers) see tracing without credit as dishonest and lazy. I would be extremely put off if I found out an author I follow had been lying and essentially passing off work they did not do as their own.
Even if you just used it as a reference photo and did not trace, I would still link to the reference in the description. That way, you're not implying you designed something you did not, you're improving your art skills, and your readers get introduced to a neat bit of history and architecture. This is what I personally would do.
And if you absolutely cannot draw it without tracing, please at least say you traced in the description.

[Rage_The_Dragoon]

I did a bit of digging into it since that should be part of the "Full Freedom of Panorama Law" which is active through every country in the European Union.

However it seems France is the ONLY country in the EU that placed some Intellectual Property law on top of it. As in only commercial use of said taken photo's of sculptures and architecture in public spaces is punishable. So yeah you can still take your vacation pics for your private photo album without getting billed. But still, screw France for being so uptight about it.

[scythe]

Here's my take on referencing objects/places/people for your art.

DO IT!

Humans have been tracing ever since we put a disgusting paste into our mouths and spat that out onto a cave wall. You think your favourite artists just pull every little thing out of their genius minds?

When I want to use a photo for a reference I look at a number of things. Am I altering the composition sufficiently? If the composition of an image has been artistically crafted, you don't want to just straight knock that off. That's rude. You can, of course, use a great composition as inspiration for your own artwork (eg. referencing the raising of the flag at Iwo Jima.)

I also look at the style. Does the image have a unique, artistic style? Best not to copy that. Is it a photo? Are you going to input your own unique, artistic style, essentially rendering the original photo as a kind of skeleton framework to build on? Where that falls on the cool/kinda shady spectrum is pretty subjective and I believe depends on how much of 'yourself' goes into the final piece. If your art is just straight, even lines tracing over the exact shapes in the photo, you're not really doing much, are you?

As to your question about referencing actual buildings for use in your comic. It'd look weird if your protagonists house was the Guggenheim museum, but yes, if you're using your own photos as reference, it's perfectly legal as long as it makes sense in the story. For me, where possible, I prefer to collect a library of images to gather a collection of attributes that are common to the style of architecture. Then I'll put together the building how I think works best. But sometimes, you just can't do that, and that's okay. For instance, I needed to reference an ancient Ziggurat for my comic, and well, all you have to go off are other people's artistic impressions, in which case, you just do the best you can.