Italian Publisher Solleone Copyrights

tarotreseacher

Hello, I'm curious if anyone is aware of the continued existence of the Italian publisher Solleone? I'm trying to determine what the copyright rules are for some of their limited run deck in the 1980's are, particularly the Valentina Visconti. I'd like to use some images of the cards in an article and I'm having trouble finding contact information for the company. I do see occasional recent news featuring Maria Teresa Perosino and Sergio Panza who created the deck, but little else.

Since it seems the last deck created under "Edizioni del Solleone di Vito Arienti" was 1988 (I used a reference here for that information: http://a.trionfi.eu/WWPCM/WWPCM/italy/solleone.htm), I expect the publisher is not currently active. Both that site and this: http://www.guntheranderson.com/cards/manuf.htm, have the address at 20035 Lissone (MI) Via S. M. del Carso, 1. I couldn't find recent information for cardmaker Vito Arienti and I guess just writing the address, or trying the phone number I found also is the next step...
 

gregory

Their decks are thoroughly under copyright. As you can't get in touch, I wouldn't use them in your book. But as far as I know a couple of cards are ok in a review - I don't know the convention for other articles, but there is something about a few bits for study/research. Some say 10% but I don't believe it is writ in stone

I do know that they ceased publishing years ago, so I'd say contact any artist involved instead.
 

tarotreseacher

That's what I was afraid of. Thank you, Gregory. I'll reach out to the artists, as well, if possible.
 

blue_fusion

At the very least, you could just redraw the images and say they're based on that deck, especially if you don't need images from the entire deck anyway - less hassle for you in the long run.
 

tarotreseacher

you could just redraw the images and say they're based on that deck

While I'm not the worst artist, I'd be hesitant to attempt that! But, I like how you think and now you have me thinking about that idea... Especially with this deck, the Valentina Visconti, which is fairly "simple" in design and execution. Thanks!
 

jalaire

Be very careful with redrawing images to get around copyright. You would have to change the images a lot, and even with fair use there are a lot of rules you would have to pay attention to. Not to be debby downer, I just don't want any work to start without being VERY sure you aren't infringing on someone else's copyright. As I only have a baseline knowledge in US copyright laws maybe someone else can come in and clarify! :)
 

blue_fusion

Be very careful with redrawing images to get around copyright. You would have to change the images a lot, and even with fair use there are a lot of rules you would have to pay attention to. Not to be debby downer, I just don't want any work to start without being VERY sure you aren't infringing on someone else's copyright. As I only have a baseline knowledge in US copyright laws maybe someone else can come in and clarify! :)

Oh. I had the impression he was talking about a reproduction of a Visconti, which is centuries old!
 

tarotreseacher

Oh. I had the impression he was talking about a reproduction of a Visconti, which is centuries old!

jalaire and blue_fusion: Looks like I also had the wrong idea - I was thinking for the Valentina Visconti I could sketch out the cards not as my own, but as renditions of the original to bypass copyright issues. But, that doesn't seem right thinking about it. Since I also use a Visconti-Sforza deck in the same way, maybe the sketches of that deck would make more sense.

I'll focus on the text first and do a few self-readings to get some clarity on what path I should take :)

Thanks for jumping in here and saving a novice from shooting himself in the deck!
 

gregory

There's a newish visconti out there; you could try the publisher.

I cannot make my tablet do copy paste today. But it calls itself the golden VS.
 

tarotreseacher

There's a newish visconti out there; you could try the publisher.

Thanks, Gregory. I actually do have that one, too, but fell so in love with the Valentina Visconti deck from Solleone that I had my heart set on using those images! It's OK. I'll continue to work on the text using the Valentina as the model and then figure out what to do when I reach the end...