If you combine 2 or more pictures to form one single picture from google, does i

1. 68

   GrApEwAtErposted 5 years ago

   If you combine 2 or more pictures to form one single picture from google, does it become your own?
   
   Say if I take 5 pictures from various sources and combine them together to form one picture and I want to use it in my hub, do I need to refer to all 5 original sources or does this new image becomes my own?

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2. 71

   MickSposted 5 years ago

   It depends, really, on what the poster will allow, most copyright includes derivatives of the original.  Only a solicitor specialised in copyright law can really advise you, copyright law is a minefield.  It is always better to see a real solicitor,  face to face, rather than rely on people on the internet who can claim all sorts of fictitious qualifications and expertese.

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3. 0

   bobbyandbeansposted 5 years ago

   If you took two sections of two different books and put them together, would that become your own writing?  Of course not. If an image has a copyright, that means not using it in any way without permission or credit.

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4. 84

   junksellerposted 5 years ago

   To be your own it would have to be substantively different from the original source material. For instance, I could paint an interpretation of someone else's painting that was quite different from the original and consider that my own creation, but I couldn't paint a duplicate that looked exactly the same and call it my own.
   
   In your case, if you are just compositing or collaging the pictures together than you would not be substantively transforming the original work so you would need to attribute sources and make sure you have the right to use the images and make derivative changes to them.
   
   If what you are doing involves some sort of creative transformation than it is possible the resulting image would be your own. It depends on the level of transformation. There really aren't very clear boundary lines when it comes to this issue. Either way, it never hurts to give attribution to the original work.
   
   As MickS says, copyright is a complex issue. It also varies by country. My answer is a non-professional opinion based on American law.
   
   You also shouldn't use faces of celebrities for your profile picture.

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