question: the cut-throat field of calligraphy law

[devi]

Say I designed a poster with a piece of text on it (for example, a poem by Leonard Cohen or a paragraph from 'On the Road'), printed a small number of copies and sold them on places like ebay or to friends. What would the legal issues be there? Could I only use text that was in the public domain? If I did use text from a book or poem, would I be covered by just adding in a copyright symbol, or would I be expected to pay royalties and end up getting sued by men in suits? If so, is there a time limit (100 years after the author's death or something like that) after which it's OK to reproduce their text?

Any ideas?

Comments

Fair use

[anam-uk.livejournal.com]

Is very very limited, IIRC (IANAL and other dubious acronyms) it has to constitute less than 10% of the whole text, and not re-interpret the authors meaning in anyway, I'm also reasonably sure that if you are selling it on then its automagically not fair use, though I could be wrong (I've only encountered it in public exhibitions, & have usually asked permission if possible).

Anyhow I still have an idea for a comission, but I'd like to see the digital photos of the last peices of work :> oh an dhow do you feel about legibility ?

Re: Fair use

[bluedevi.livejournal.com]

Oops - I've been trying to arrange the use of a camera to take pictures of the damn things, but haven't managed it yet. Didn't realise you were actually interested, though, so I'll redouble my efforts to get something sorted out!

Legibility? When it's appropriate, but letters can make wonderful abstract patterns too.

Re: Fair use

[anam-uk.livejournal.com]

hurrah

Abstract is where its at :>