Ok Ladies.. so hallway murals? Has anyone had any issues in regards to copyright ? Im in a bit of a pickle, my kids did a really nice mural last year based upon a literature review of the Maurice Sendak classic, Where the Wild Things Are. As of until today, it is enjoyed by students, visitors and staff. I was approached by central office personal and questioned whether I had permission of publishers to “re-create” this painting. The Beatles mural is from the late 60s and is the last remaining mural at ketcham high school- the others have been painted over since ” copyright issues”, Rolling Stones, Deep Purple, all of them. I am outraged! I will be devastated if I have to paint over the wild things, as I imagine the kids will be upset as well. Anyone has experience with this ???
Pretty weird. I haven’t had any issues with murals, but I also haven’t painted anything other than trees and such. Sounds pretty lame. I hope you don’t have to cover the murals because they are beautiful and took a lot of time to plan and create. Sometimes schools really annoy me.
I haven’t had to deal with this specifically but I would look up the Fair Use act which covers teachers for using certain copyright material in schools. I don’t know if the mural is something that is covered under it thought! If you’re school is questioning it, it might not be a bad idea to just send a letter to the copyright holder and ask. I highly doubt that they would deny a school using it because it’s for educational purposes, it’s not being distributed and you’re not making money off of it. But you never know!
seems like it would be covered by fair use, but legally it seems not 100%
here’s what I found:
https://www.avvo.com/legal-answers/is-it-a-copyright-infringement-for-a-school-teache-151986.html
Copyirght exclusivity generally bends to schools and educational uses, as a “fair use,” because the 2 most important fair use factors, purpose and character of the use, and the likelihood of hurting the original work’s market, are in the school’s favor. Here, the purpose of the new mural is educational and not for profit, and it’s unlikely to damage the market for the original, in fact, it’s likely to help that market by increasingt the kids’ awareness of the book and film and other merchandise.
It’s may not be necessary to ask the author for permission to create this mural, but it’s not a bad idea. Fair use is a defense to a charge of copyright ifnringment, and this use also implicates the rightsholder’s rights of the book’s characters, which may also be trademarked and protected by your state’s unfair competition law, so getting the author’s consent is not a bad idea.
Disclaimer: Please note that this answer does not constitute legal advice, and should not be relied on, since each state has different laws, each situation is fact specific, and it is impossible to evaluate a legal problem without a comprehensive consultation and review of all the facts and documents at issue. This answer does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Thank you everyone, very helpful info ……Go Go gaget! I will get to the bottom of this stat