Post #450764 by geedavee on Thu, Apr 30, 2009 11:25 AM

If it is a traditional Hawaiian design like a Ku or a copy of an actual East Island Moai then you have nothing to worry about.

It is difficult to copy a modern carvers design "exactly". They usually turn out to be variations of a theme. If someone were to buy the original and make a cast of it, it means they plan to mass produce it and sell it which is just plain evil.

To quote Cammo:
"If you look up your copyright legalities, you'll see that you cannot copyright a style. Everything that is hand carved is an original work of art and therefore does not infringe copyright. I helped draft legislation in the 90's about exactly this type of thing."

The best thing you could do is take Big Daddys advice and buy a cheap set of chisels and start carving them yourself. Or work with cement, or resins, or oatmeal boxes, or styrofoam.

Once you carve one, you are bound to want to carve more.

There is already a thread about this sort of thing so have a look.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=31166&forum=7&start=0