Asked in Copyright for New York

Q: accused of copyright theft

My mother makes animal carvings and sells them she looks at many things before making her own but does not follow any one thing when she makes her product. She made some animal carvings that have the same postures as the drawings in the book so they look the same but the drawings are much more detailed so no outline is exactly the same. now the artist from the book saw her art an accuses her of theft but she truly did not imitate the artist but fully admits seeing his cravings to be safe she removed all of those products and is trying too make them more unique but at this point shes really wondering how much difference there as to be because if I would take my camera out and take a photo of the animal its more than 90% chance I will get the exact outlines as her carvings because of its pretty well-known postures.

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2 Lawyer Answers
Steve Charles Vondran
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A: Generally speaking (this is not legal advice) a Plaintiff alleging copyright infringement must show "access" to copyrighted work and "substantial similarity." Independent creation can be a defense to infringement. It sounds like you might want to have a copyright lawyer take a closer look at the details. Good Luck Attorney Steve®

Marcos Garciaacosta and Tim Akpinar agree with this answer

A: Consult with an attorney.

Your safest approach would be to take independent pictures, yourself, of the poses of the animals and replicate them that way.

The other party would need to prove that you COPIED exactly

best luck

Tim Akpinar agrees with this answer

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