Copyright can i sell a scupture i made based on a stop motion animation film

[siouxsie]

Hello, My partner and I recently go a very rare limited edition sculpture set of characters from a popular Christmas movie.

We got it extremely cheap because some characters are missing.

Ive looked online and see the parts we are missing but they are like £150 each,

So being an artist and able to sculpt I am going to make the missing characters myself. knowing i am good at sculpting I was thinking If I make these well perhaps i could make an extra set and sell to someone who loves the film as much as me. I would not be copying any sculptures that are already made I would make it based on drawings, so its not exact replicas of memorabilia but its still the same characters.

 

[army judge]

Hello, My partner and I recently go a very rare limited edition sculpture set of characters from a popular Christmas movie.

We got it extremely cheap because some characters are missing.

Ive looked online and see the parts we are missing but they are like £150 each,

So being an artist and able to sculpt I am going to make the missing characters myself. knowing i am good at sculpting I was thinking If I make these well perhaps i could make an extra set and sell to someone who loves the film as much as me. I would not be copying any sculptures that are already made I would make it based on drawings, so its not exact replicas of memorabilia but its still the same characters.

You are free to make as many copies of your set as you please for your use.
That's to say, you want to display your atrifacts in all 10 bedrooms of your home, the living room, the library, the dining room, and all 6 bathrooms.
No problem.

The issue can get sticky when you start SELLING your "knock offs".
Yes, "knock offs", that's the copyright/trademark holder will assert.

If your sweet mom wants a set, you could generally gift her a set of your amazing sculptures.
Mom loves them so much, she says, sonny, here's a a couple quid, buy yourself a box of biscuits.
As long as you don't try to market the beautiful items you create, you're likely to be okay.

If 300 appear on eBay, you'll get some unwanted attention.

Finally, discuss this with a solicitor in the UK, as we are a US based law forum.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

Right with army judge on this one. Speaking of eBay, that's where the copyright and trademark folks are most vigilant. If you want to see how close of an eye they keep, just do a search online concerning Nike or Reebok sportswear and jerseys and trademark or fakes/counterfeit. You would be surprised. My guess is that this would probably fly under the radar for just a handful since it's not as popular a topic. But if there is memorabilia / merchandise being sold then it's really something you want to avoid.