Jane Austen Characters Deck

Hey everyone....

I am a major Austen fan, and I have been toying with the idea of creating a deck using characters from her books. I am worried about copyright problems though.

I have seen a deck of Rock and Roll Hall of Famers and it uses actual photos or drawings of stage performances of all the big names in rock. Also, I've seen a Ancient Myth Tarot, which was in the works, and it used images from very old books, such as the Bible.

Anyway, I am wondering if my own renderings of characters from Jane Austen's books would be in any way an infringement of her(descendents) rights.

It's a wonderful idea - but it's been done. Diane Wilkes (who runs Tarot Passages) has been working with Lo Scarabeo on a Jane Austen tarot. I think it was due to be out this year - not sure.

Of course, maybe we can't have too many Jane Austen tarots?

Oh, just for information, generally all copyright runs out seventy years after the death of an author. Sometimes there may be oddities, for instance an author's name can, in theory, be made into a trademark so that you might not be able to use it (copyright and trademark law is full of confusing bits and pieces like this). But generally, if the author or artist has been dead for seventy years, there is no problem.

Thank you for the copyright information, I have been busy working with a charity project I've founded for autistic people like my son, and haven't as yet conducted the proper research.

I will look into the Jane deck you mentioned, and thank you for letting me know about that too.

I doubt it matters to us lovers of Jane Austen if there are 100 Jane decks in production, as they will all be unique and beautiful in their own way. I think of the myriad of Angel decks I've come across and have found them each to be meaningful.

I did however check with my local chapter of JASNA, of which I am a member, and they had not heard of any Jane decks available. Perhaps then I could obtain their blessing or something of that nature.

I appreciate your input.

Huge Jane fan here...and I agree there could never be to many Jane Austen decks for me.
Also I am not to amoured with the Jane LS deck coming out (the art work is not to my liking)..but I reserve my full opinion untill I have it in my hands.
The book, if by Diane, will be excellent I'm sure.

So go for it Tara2007!
I'd love to talk about character choices for cards and style of art work ect.... if you start creating it.

You're very welcome. Diane is lovely - and she is sometimes here on AT (not often though) so you could perhaps contact her.

Her personal blog is here:
http://chelsearoad.livejournal.com/

and if you look back some months (I know it takes quite a time to do that though) you will see some of her thoughts on the deck as it was being developed - I've followed with great pleasure as Diane really knows her Austen and has been very careful about correspondences and so on. Hope you enjoy it!

Edited to add - I took a look around quickly, and if you begin here, you will see some of her posts about this tarot:
http://chelsearoad.livejournal.com/14034.html

Sounds wonderful, Lark. Yes, to be sure I will be posting my thoughts, some rough drafts, etc.

The touhest one for me will probably be my version of The Lovers. Good grief so many there! Of course the most famous would probably be Lizzy and Darcy. I already have one idea I think will work for The Devil (or Temptation if you will) but I would like to do 2 things with my deck:

1. appeal to people who love Jane
2. give some knowledge about her to people who are not very familiar with her work.

So, I have a little brainstorming to do here with regard to which characters would be st fill those needs. Most likely I'll sketch up 2 or 3 versions of a card and ask for a vote of some kind.

Hugs for the input guys.

Oh, It just has to be Elizabeth and Lord D'arcy for the lovers. They were very much opposites coming together.

*expectantly watching this thread for more news*

Do you realize how many people I know who would love to receive this deck as a gift?? And it would be perfect reading with friends over tea and lady's fingers.

What a brilliant idea! A Jane Austen deck would be wonderful. I haven't seen the deck that's coming out (gonna google that right now), but I don't think you should worry about it. I agree, the more the merrier. Especially if you have a completely different art style. ^_^

Oh, I would be first in line to buy three Jane Austen decks....one for me, one for my mother, and one for my aunt (I'm the only card reader, the mother and aunt are simply ravenous Austen fans!)

Tarot of Jane Austen is on preorder at Tarot Garden I noticed today, got till 31 January 2007.