Seattle, WA asked in Copyright for Washington

Q: Can a screenshot of a show be used as an artistic template that is then sold as my art?

If I take a screenshot of a show, say Game of Thrones, and then draw over it in a photo editing software, is it against the law to sell the art? Copyright infringement or something else?

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1 Lawyer Answer
Allison Higgins
Allison Higgins
Answered
  • Intellectual Property Lawyer
  • Helotes, TX

A: It depends on how similar your drawing is to the original photo. Merely tracing the photo in an animated format, as is the latest craze, is copyright infringement. The standard for copyright infringement is "substantial similarity" and this situation would likely fall under that.

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