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That’s the question, definitely. Where is the line?

When Shepard Fairey made his famous Obama “Hope” poster, he got in big trouble for it because he used someone’s photo for reference. He’s a street artist, though. His stuff isn’t like my stuff. 

If I used the same Obama image as reference to make a realistic portrait, would it be allowed as long as I called it fanart? 

People think someone like Andy Warhol got away with it, but he was sued at least three different times by the photographers whose images he used (and sometimes outright traced) to make his art. 

Derivative art has forever and ever been an issue in art. Art has always been full of artists copying, stealing, taking credit for, and sabotaging each other. It’s full of forgery, theft, vandalism, and appropriation. Sometimes they get away with it. Sometimes they don’t. 

At what point do we say, “I don’t need to give credit”?

Sometimes, even as I’m drawing, I try to see that line. If my art weren’t realistic, would copying be an issue? How exact do I have to be before the lines I’m making are no longer mine? Will this line right here that I’m drawing be what loses me a lawsuit? Who knows?