Fred Cisin wrote:
I think you'd have trouble copyrighting a copy of
a copyrighted work.
It depends. Certainly when Andy Warhol makes a mechanically-
assisted reproduction of a Campbell's Soup Can, or 32 of them,
he's making original art... just based on a trademarked logo.
I know, trademarks are not the same as copyrights. But other artists
do montages of newspaper clippings to great effect, and there the originals
were protected by copyright.
Or look at Blue Man Group's "Project 13". They didn't own the
copyrights
to the original documents, yet they make a perfectly good statement using
them.
At the same time I'm sure BMG pays for the clips of Devo and Freebird
they use to great effect in their shows :-)
His status as a former commercial artist of course has a lot to do with his
other art. I bumped up against that specialty several times over my career
and have a lot of respect for what they do.
I also like Roy Lichtenstein, BTW :-). Others here probably don't like this
kind pop-art stuff. But my experience with commercial artists has really
made me appreciate mechanical processes as well as the results.
Tim.