# This guy I know....



## Khaiyote (Feb 15, 2009)

Just kiddin'. Does anyone know if it is legal to use a magazine as reference material for a drawing. Would it matter if it was a magazine of an Adult nature? I wasn't sure if there were any copyright type laws for that kind of stuff.

EDIT- what I am shooting for here is artistic, not pornografic


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## ByondRAGE (Feb 15, 2009)

its not cheating to use references, sometimes, its encouraged. unless your like copying or something. although, the hole Adult nature thing idk about.


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## Hanazawa (Feb 15, 2009)

Khaiyote said:


> Would it matter if it was a magazine of an Adult nature?



No. Copyright applies to all printed material regardless of content. A fashion magazine has the same protections as a shopping catalog, sports mag, adult mag etc.

that said, there is nothing illegal about using references when there is no financial gain involved. if you intend to make money from the thing you're referencing, learn the difference between a reference image and an image you copy from.


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## Arshes Nei (Feb 16, 2009)

To add on to what Hanazawa said, Copyright doesn't distinguish morality. Just as unauthorized use of clean images would be prohibited the reverse is the same. 

http://www.conceptart.org/forums/showthread.php?t=130468 has thoughts listed on using reference. 

It's not a bad idea to take your own photography, when possible because it helps your memory recollection. The point of reference is to help guide you but life drawing is what helps you fill in the gaps. As someone once said, if you knew how the human body works, you can visualize the reference photo from different angles. Flipping a photo over just gives you the other side of the photo, not the object.


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