Topic: Springboarding from someone else's idea

[Tatumhart]

I listen to RadioLab. It's a radio program on our public radio station. I get a lot of illustration ideas from Radiolab.

For the most part, the ideas come from obscure historical events that they report on. Historical events are not copyrighted. Seems like it should be okay to add some of these images to my portfolio.

But one episode they did was from an interview with a kid with cancer. The producer edited the interview into a song.  Really cool idea.

So I'm working on a drawing directly inspired by that poem/interview. It's like I'm illustrating the interview almost.

I was planning on posting my image on my blog and linking to the RadioLab site so everyone would know where the idea came from. But maybe it's better for it to be a personal piece that I don't share online.

I know the copyright rules for writing, but what's the rule for illustrating? Maybe it's the public domain thing? But I'm not profiting from it so...does that matter?

And, as a second question in the same vein, how can you decide how much of an idea came from something else?  Like, let's say you hear a song that gives you a great image and that's your springboard for a pb or even just a series in your portfolio. When do you need permission from the writer?

[CarrieF]

These are great questions. I don't know the answers.

Is there a copyright on ideas? I don't think so -- I think copyright applies only to a specific expression of those ideas. From reading other threads, the safest thing to do is to ask, but I would be surprised if it is legally necessary in a case like this.

I do think that it would be a sad day when artists (especially those in different media) cannot get inspired by each other in this way. This is exactly the kind of thing that the Internet can and should foster among people.

Have you seen this website? http://www.getsparked.org
It's a place where artists and writers post work, and then post responses to each other's work. Your post reminded me of this. It's a great site!

[Tatumhart]

In this case, it seems asking was the best idea.

The creator liked my art and even has a place to use the image.  Yeah!

Thanks, Carrie.  Good advice.