If the original work is truly copyrighted, than any derivative works
will be in violation of copyright unless they are themselves original,
creative expressions--and even then you aren't in the clear. It
doesn't sound like this would pass.

If it's any consolation, an photograph of an artistic work that is out
of copyright can't be copyrighted in the United States. When US
libraries and museums claim copyright on photos of 100 year-old
paintings they are being disingenuous. It's called "copy-fraud".

Other countries--most notably the UK--have different takes on this.

I'm not a lawyer, by the way.

Ben Florin

On Mon, Mar 12, 2012 at 10:51 AM, Matt Amory <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> I'm working with a set of images of artworks (images which are common on
> the web for the most part) and I'm wondering if there is a way to layer
> multiple "possibly-subject-to-copyright-claim" images together into a
> single layered image which would not be subject to any copyright claim.
>
> Since the GIMP'ed image I would be presenting would be different from any
> of its constituent parts, could I post it without fear of takedown orders?
> Or is this a dubious strategy?
>
> Thanks for pondering
>
> --
> Matt Amory
> (917) 771-4157
> [log in to unmask]
> http://www.linkedin.com/pub/matt-amory/8/515/239