TAROT Deck - Completely Revised Sola Busca from XV Century

[Greg Stanton]

Respecting International Copyright Law, you have to ask the owner of the artwork permission, in this case the Pinacoteca di Brera museum in Milan. In the US, we have a concept of works of art being "in the public domain" — usually meaning we don't have to pay royalties to their creators. International law is different, and you must ask the owner of the artworks permission to reproduce. If you buy a poster of the Mona Lisa, there will be a legal line that says something like "Reproduced with generous permission from..." etc.

I have published music from manuscripts from various museums throughout the world. I have always written and asked for permission, and they have always granted it. It's really not that big a deal, and in some cases they can help you with your project — like provide better photographs of the art, etc.

I honestly don't know what the consequences are if you don't have permission. It costs hardly anything to write and ask.

 

[greatdane]

Well that's good to know, Greg

I am now wondering if all creators of decks have gone to the lengths you mentioned. Like you said, if we see something is in the public domain and haven't taken a version of it from someone else, I think we tend to think we're "safe". I have never done a deck or anything. When I quote someone, I put who I'm quoting, but beyond that, I know little of what one can or can't do when taking something that has already been done and turning it into something else.

 

[seven stars]

Well, tell you what. This is rylla's thread, and I was really flattered that she started it & happy to chime in, but now I feel like all this copyright talk is making a bummer out of her thread. So basically, I appreciate the input & answered questions about it, but I'm not going to disrespect her thread by having this turn into a copyright thread when it sounded like she wanted to talk about the "deck" or art or something cool & positive & interesting.....but anyone can pm me if they want to, does that sound good?

Maybe no one actually cares about the deck or the art or Sola Busca or the history of it or why he painting things one way & why I took certain liberties with imagery....

 

[greatdane]

You're right, seven stars

This isn't about copyright, it's about the deck you did. Which I think looks really great. That is what the thread is about and so that's my opinion, it looks done well and I hope does well.

 

[seven stars]

AH!!!! OK this is relevant, lol.....I just got MY first deck in the mail today! I hadn't seen this in person either, only in paintshop!

Pro's & Con's -

Pros - Same great paper quality. I get the standard 300gsm aqueous coated (smooth) quality, and there IS an option to get premium 310gsm plastic coated (linen) & looking at them, I think the images kind of lend themselves linen, so, now I need to order those.....to see.

Color is good & antique looking & the images I manipulated don't seem to stick out, they all look like they go together like I wanted.

Con's - I would have been happier if they were a little bit sharper. They're a little soft, some are not as focused as I would have preferred. I think I am going to make a youtube video of them so people can see what I mean. I still love them, but, if I had one criticism that would be it. I wish I knew how to resolve that with maybe better graphics software. They still look reallllly pretty laid out next to each other, like little paintings, all image & no borders. Tomorrow I will do a youtube vid & post you the link.

 

[daphne]

Good you have a proof prints now.

But...how much is "not in focus"? Hardly noticeable or distracting? I am interested in this deck, but for 50 bucks I want the images to be sharp.

 

[seven stars]

Well that's why I want to video them. I mean, to me, they're fine. I'm looking forward to using them. But, they're not as sharp as I thought they would be, not as sharp as they were in paintshop, so I want people to see really clearly what they look like & if they still like it, great. Maybe I should just lower the price on it? With the programs I have I don't have any way of making them any sharper I don't think. I think that's probably why Lo Scarabeo hired the "mystery" artist to re-draw them - because there aren't very sharp images out there to work with. They still look old world for sure. Like I said I will video them tomorrow and maybe you guys can tell me what you think, if I'm over-critical or should pull the project or lower the price or what.

 

[rylla]

There are SO MANY items on Etsy, even eBay - like posters of major arcana of RW cards, necklaces, crafts so on - my question to those who asked seven star questions like 'Did you get permission to...' or ' Did you approach them and say...' is:

did you contacted all those people who posted those items on Etsy, eBay so on, asking them the same questions? If yes, my apologies. If not: why to give a hard time to an artist just because it is a member of AT and was kind enough to talk about her creation? I thought this forum is about talking about cards and decks and not about attacking members just because they are at your fingertips.

Of course, you may argue that it was just a simple question as you wanted to know. The insistence how it was done over and over didn't feel like it though (or if you needed more clarification you could send her a PM). I can only imagine how she feels.

Can we go back to discussions about tarot cards, PLEASE?

 

[PathWalker]

One last post then:

Just because other people 'bend' or break rules; pillfer envelopes from work, fiddle small tax amounts, make small scale stuff breaking copyright - that does not make it "right" to do so yourself.

It a personal choice as to how exacting you choose to be about such things, but to deny the wrongness simply because others do it is not an adequte defence. Neither is a disregard for the international rules, when they happen to be different from those of your country.

In the same way, the decision to purchase an item which has obviouslty flouted copyright rules is personal.

I am happy that each person should make that choice, but do believe they should be making an infomed decision. Thus this impinges on the topic of these cards as much as the visual aspect I believe.I would raise the same issue about any deck discussed here if it were relevant.

Thank you for this conversation, and that we have remained polite and open.

Pathwalker

 

[rylla]

One last post then:

Just because other people 'bend' or break rules; pillfer envelopes from work, fiddle small tax amounts, make small scale stuff breaking copyright - that does not make it "right" to do so yourself.

It a personal choice as to how exacting you choose to be about such things, but to deny the wrongness simply because others do it is not an adequte defence. Neither is a disregard for the international rules, when they happen to be different from those of your country.

Pathwalker

(now I can't stop myself from posting once more on this topic!


I agree.

But now we are getting to a more deep topic:

is 'right' the same as 'lawful'? you decide (each one for oneself)

and according to the laws should Etsy and eBay even be allowed to exist? they are doing quite good as I recall

or is 'right' a moral question - doing no harm, listen to your conscience, so on

I am living in a country (for 3 month) where new laws are made every day. For example one becomes official, then there is 90 (!) more additions, modifications to it. Go figure.
Bare with me please: there was a law issued in 2009 which allowed the Transylvanian flag to be hang out in Romania (actually is the 'szekely' flag, I goggled it but there is no word for it in English - is the same like hanging out Scottish flags in England, I guess). So Hungarian people started to put it out on their windows, etc. Now the Romanian leaders got scared that some regions in Romania want autonomy, and yesterday they just issued another law that prohibits to hang out the Transylvanian flag. Which law was the 'right' one? The first one or the second one?

(somewhat off topic: for 21 years I lived in 'your world' (ya, it's a complete different world). And I loved it. Law is issued to keep order and avoid chaos. Is that simple (for me . Here laws are issued to keep chaos (among others, so people to be able to steall officially, believe it or not)(by 'stealling officially' I mean people in high political position being allowed not to go to prison in some cases if they steal) . That makes people to have a different respect for laws, in general.)