I have a question about copyrights.
I know the author of a book or file holds copyrights on it.
If for example DAZ design the elephant, they hold the copyright on the files and I must buy the rights to use the file. However they did not make the elephant as it was always there. Nothing forbids me to design an elephant as well and upload it. My elephant will be for example the X elephant where Daz's one will be the DAZ elephant. If broken down it will be found that the two designs is not the same. I can not make my textures work on DAZ's model.
If someone make a model, or start a character for a film for example the mouse Stuart Little and the character is used in the movie, am I allowed to design the same figure for Poser or DAZ Studio? I know my figure will differ drastically with the original figure, specifically if the two models are compared with each other, but they may appear the same. My one for example may have another name like Steven Mouse.
The author of the original character have invented the character as there were never a mouse like him (story based).
I can think of several examples:
Shrek, Scooby doo, Mickey Mouse, Casper the ghost, Darth Vader, Crazy Frog, Indiana Jones, etc.
I am refering to models made as freeware or open source, not intended to make money with.

Certainly you can model and copyright your own creations, even if they're modified versions of something like Stuart Little. The key, tho, is to make them adaptations, not direct copies.

Now, there are some who feel that making a mesh of something like a cartoon character (like Mickey Mouse, for example) means it's completely free of copyright because it's a mesh, not the drawn character itself. That, unfortunately, opens the can of worms called trademark, which is very different from copyright. MM, for example, is a registered TM of the Disney Corporation, and his likeness is seriously protected as part of their IP. Even as freebies, youre legally in problematic waters.

So bottom line: tred this way with a great deal of care and caution. Make sure that your "inspired by" characters have enough visible differences to set them apart from their origins, and you should be fine.

In the UK, there is something called "passing off" and it's illegal. In short, if your mouse looks too much like Stuart Little, the copyright/trademark holders may complain that you are trying to pass off your creation as their work and will be annoyed. If your mouse is sufficiently different to their mouse so that there can be no confusion, then there is no problem.

Mike

PS: Would anybody like to buy a Carter watch or some Hugh Boss aftershave? My local market sold both (before the Trading Standards people moved in).

If it looks so close to the Stuart Mouse, even with a different name, there could be some copyright/trademark concerns on behalf of the Stuart Mouse owner, and I know there would be problems with Walt Disney.

You can post this question in the copyright forum and get a better more detailed answer from someone who actually knows about copyright though:

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/forumpro/showforum.php?forum_id=12395

But, for example you can change the UV-map of your elephant in a way that it can take the textures of the DAZ elephant. Take the gens fom Satanica, the uv-map is the same as M3's.

Do not know US law.
In Europe just search trademark base and check what is protected. It takes some time and you must study Viena Classes first but online database is free:
oami.europa.eu/CTMOnline/RequestManager/en_SearchAdvanced_NoReg
Professional DB searching by pattent attorney is not free (100 - 600 Euro per TM depending of date)

BTW I'm sure that all US characters are registered in both US and EU bases.

Quote - But, for example you can change the UV-map of your elephant in a way that it can take the textures of the DAZ elephant. Take the gens fom Satanica, the uv-map is the same as M3's.

BUT you had better get permission first from DAZ...trust me....