This morning I had two more post from different blog sites mentioning the incredible work of Samuel Silva – here is one of them.   Again, one can only marvel at the skill level required, for me it is the skin tones – how on earth did he managed to do that?   However, there is another aspect of all this that seems to have been brushed aside – copyright violation.   Now Mr Silva may have taken the photos that most of these drawings were based on but at least one, Scarlet Johansson from the film Girl with a Pearl earring, is copyright and so did Mr Silva get permission to reproduce it?

Of course this is a trivial matter in this circumstance because I am sure the film company wouldn’t  be too bothered about the publicity.  But what if Mr Silva then sells the work for a considerable amount of money then what?   How much royalty/fees would he pay to the film company?  I am sure that he has thought about this, as he appears to be a lawyer.  

I guess this wouldn’t really be a problem in most circumstances as photographs tend to be the starting point for any art work or the final art work doesn’t have a sufficient likeness to be considered a copy of the original.   But in this case this is the USP  of the work and so Mr Silva could land himself in a whole lot bother – should copyright lawyers come sniffing around.

Or maybe not – however, it is a point worth considering.

Realistic Ballpoint Pen Drawings by Samuel Silva
http://machoarts.com/ballpoint-pen-drawing-by-samuel-silva

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