Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/messages.ez?ForumID=12395

lynnJonathan An excellent question. Though your character resembles the illustration, I'd say it differs enough, to constitute a different work. That's my opinion, for what it's worth. Since this is created from scratch, in an entirely different medium as the original. It would constitute an original work. The next question to consider would be; is it a licensed character? If it were a well-known character upon whose semblance a significant portion of the creator's income depended or derived (ie, Disney characters, Movie characters,etc.) reproduced by name &/or in a context that might cause a buyer to mistake it as being from the original creator, that would be a problem indeed! In this case it's based on a simple sketch of an unnamed figure in an art book. My take on it, is that as long as you didn't name it "Frouds goblin 1" or anything similar, you'd be in the clear. If you were to do 2 or 3 variations (Older, Younger, Female, etc.) & offer as something like "the gnomekins" or "podling family" it would be even better (not to mention more appealing to prospective buyers). Again, this is my opinion, based on my own experiences. I do know that if someone presents an artist with an image of a licensed character, and commissions the artist to do another version of it specifically for them, the customer is responsible & assumed to have aquired the necessary permissions. (this is how tattoo artists get away with doing Winnie-The-Pooh tats, without aquiring license or let from the Disney Corporation). So, for instance if Teena were to pay you for your work, that would be okay in any event, & Teena would be responsible for any infractions resulting from it's later commercial use. In any event, I'd recommend, at this point, taking it to the Renderocity Copyrights & Ethical Standards Forum (on the right, under Admin Forums) Posting the original sketch, a render of your creation, & getting their take on it. Then proceed from there. For my part, I'd love to get the little spud! If you post it in freestuff, or make it a commercial product, I'd want it either way. If you do take it to C&ESF, post a note here, or cut & paste this posting from me, if you think it'll help. Good luck! Jerry B leather-guy