Post #323845 by TikiJosh on Tue, Aug 7, 2007 12:56 PM

Wow. Volatile question.

I think that older designs that have sort of entered the public domain are probably okay to use-- think of Gecko's take on the old TV seahorse design. Copyrights, patents or whatever may have expired, or maybe you just have no idea who to ask about permission. Chances are, the person you'd ask is dead anyway.

For newer designs based on the artwork of living people, I think permission is not only polite, it's required. If an image is being used commercially (like on the cards) without permission, then that's copyright infringement. That's the law. If the image appeared in Tiki Magazine, then it's probably copyrighted already. Subscribing or purchasing an issue of a magazine does not entitle the buyer to use of the images inside.

I'd suggest contacting the person and trying to work something out. What you work out is up to you. As the copyright holder, you're holding all the cards.