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More from saeto15
D&D white dragon for my portfolio class.
Category Artwork (Digital) / Fantasy
Species Dragon (Other)
Size 1000 x 873px
File Size 372 kB
Yeah, but DnD can't own 'dragons'. The term is far too loose. You could draw a white dragon, with a snowy background, and claim it's just a white dragon. So long as you did the art, you would own the picture and would be able to do what you want with it. If DnD does show up and, improbably, knock on your door, you would have legal right because 1. you did the art. and 2. you can claim you were just doing a random dragon.
The same sense works for DragonLance. They have commissioned a cover with a dragon on it from an artist. They own the dragon's name in relation to the dragon, they own the cover art (though the person who drew the cover can still sell the art in respects). You can't go drawing an exact replica of the cover art or taking the cover art and selling it, you can't sell books using that specific character with that specific name. But you can draw a very similar dragon and, so long as you don't trace the previous art, you can do what you want with your picture. You don't have to say it's that dragon.
I can bring up similar examples, such as drawing a long black dragon with 6 fingers for wings. You can do what you want with the picture. You can sell it. And if someone who happened to write a book that involved a black long dragon with six fingered wings (ie, Temeraire) before you drew this dragon noticed, they couldn't do anything about it.
Now if this guy, say, traced the white dragon off of a book cover or from a card, a picture that DnD commissioned another artist to do, then yes... That's not good.
The same sense works for DragonLance. They have commissioned a cover with a dragon on it from an artist. They own the dragon's name in relation to the dragon, they own the cover art (though the person who drew the cover can still sell the art in respects). You can't go drawing an exact replica of the cover art or taking the cover art and selling it, you can't sell books using that specific character with that specific name. But you can draw a very similar dragon and, so long as you don't trace the previous art, you can do what you want with your picture. You don't have to say it's that dragon.
I can bring up similar examples, such as drawing a long black dragon with 6 fingers for wings. You can do what you want with the picture. You can sell it. And if someone who happened to write a book that involved a black long dragon with six fingered wings (ie, Temeraire) before you drew this dragon noticed, they couldn't do anything about it.
Now if this guy, say, traced the white dragon off of a book cover or from a card, a picture that DnD commissioned another artist to do, then yes... That's not good.
D&D once again has SPECIFIC designs for their dragons, just as I have a specific design for my various characters, and Star Wars have specific designs for their aliens. The difference between D&D, Star Wars, and myself is I don't have mine under a copyright. Meaning anyone can take my design, use it in a movie or whatever without having to really say anything to me or pay me anything for using it.
Now if someone wanted to use a White Dragon design from D&D or an alien from Star Wars they would have to give credit to them (as the artist did above in his/her description of the picture) and if they made money off the picture *might* have to give them a portion of the resulting profits for the image.
So no D&D didn't create the dragon, but their specific designs are accredited to them. And to not say that the above dragon isn't a D&D White Dragon...well it wouldn't be against the law but it is still giving credit to the creators of the design.
And don't think they didn't come up with the design before getting the original artist to draw it into a physical creation.
Now if someone wanted to use a White Dragon design from D&D or an alien from Star Wars they would have to give credit to them (as the artist did above in his/her description of the picture) and if they made money off the picture *might* have to give them a portion of the resulting profits for the image.
So no D&D didn't create the dragon, but their specific designs are accredited to them. And to not say that the above dragon isn't a D&D White Dragon...well it wouldn't be against the law but it is still giving credit to the creators of the design.
And don't think they didn't come up with the design before getting the original artist to draw it into a physical creation.
I look at the dragon and see a white dragon. I do not see a DnD white dragon. I still don't know what defines a DnD dragon from any olde European dragon. They all can fly, they all have four legs, they all have horns and a snout. They all hunt prey. They can all be different colors and be in different habitats. Aliens from StarWars have direct species names. Saying DnD owns the species name 'white dragon' is like saying anyone can own the word 'pop corn' or 'brown deer'.
DnD doesn't commission hardcore specifics on things, you know. They hand money to an artist (Elmore, Cireluo, Bessy the Cow) and tell them that they would like to see a dragon, with minor specifics. Ie, a dragon, that's white, in the snow. Then the artist does the work. In the card industry (and the inside pages of adventure books), everything is kept open for the artist's sake, long as they stick to a specific theme given. The only exception is for main characters in books (Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker, etc) and book covers, where the commissioneer would see a sketch first.
DnD doesn't own white dragons. They don't own the design to dragons at all. Dragons are by far the most generic creature on this planet. They own a singular (or multiple) pictures that an artist drew of a white dragon. This isn't like someone drawing a Hobbit or a Gundark. This is drawing a dragon. As far as I know, DnD doesn't own dragons.
DnD doesn't commission hardcore specifics on things, you know. They hand money to an artist (Elmore, Cireluo, Bessy the Cow) and tell them that they would like to see a dragon, with minor specifics. Ie, a dragon, that's white, in the snow. Then the artist does the work. In the card industry (and the inside pages of adventure books), everything is kept open for the artist's sake, long as they stick to a specific theme given. The only exception is for main characters in books (Harry Potter, Luke Skywalker, etc) and book covers, where the commissioneer would see a sketch first.
DnD doesn't own white dragons. They don't own the design to dragons at all. Dragons are by far the most generic creature on this planet. They own a singular (or multiple) pictures that an artist drew of a white dragon. This isn't like someone drawing a Hobbit or a Gundark. This is drawing a dragon. As far as I know, DnD doesn't own dragons.
Once again I believe you are missing the point. Lets look at all the names I know of for specific D&D dragons. Amethyst, Battle, Black, Blue, Brass, Bronze, Brown, Chaos, Chiang Lung, Copper, Crystal, Deep, Emerald, Ethereal, Fang, Gold, Green, Howling, Li Lung, Lung Wang, Oceanus, Pan Lung, Pyroclastic, Radiant, Red, Rust, Sapphire, Shadow, Shen Lung, Silver, Song, Styx, Taterian, T'ien Lung, Topaz, Tun Mi Lung, White, Yu Lung...and so many more depending on the world you go to ect.
Each one has a specific UNIQUE design that they have a copyright to. To draw that design and say "hey look at this nice dragon design I came up with" is what is wrong not drawing a truly random dragon, coloring it white, and calling it a white dragon.
IT IS THE DESIGN OF THE DRAGON THAT IS THEIRS NOT THE DRAGON ITSELF!! Look at the distinctive markings, horn placement, head shape, wing structure, the dragon as a whole...that is the copyrighted stuff not the fact that it is a dragon.
Also show me your proof that D&D doesn't have specific ideas of how they want their creatures to look? I wanna see your proof on that. I myself have a very VERY old monster manual as well as one from recent years...and ya know what fundamentally they look the same. Now maybe the newer artist looked at the old drawing and used it, but what about the original design from the old book?? And besides specific or not in its origin what does matter is that now D&D has specific designs that they own. To draw a dragon with the above design and go "this is something I made up out of nowhere" well I am calling the bullshit card on that one.
Each one has a specific UNIQUE design that they have a copyright to. To draw that design and say "hey look at this nice dragon design I came up with" is what is wrong not drawing a truly random dragon, coloring it white, and calling it a white dragon.
IT IS THE DESIGN OF THE DRAGON THAT IS THEIRS NOT THE DRAGON ITSELF!! Look at the distinctive markings, horn placement, head shape, wing structure, the dragon as a whole...that is the copyrighted stuff not the fact that it is a dragon.
Also show me your proof that D&D doesn't have specific ideas of how they want their creatures to look? I wanna see your proof on that. I myself have a very VERY old monster manual as well as one from recent years...and ya know what fundamentally they look the same. Now maybe the newer artist looked at the old drawing and used it, but what about the original design from the old book?? And besides specific or not in its origin what does matter is that now D&D has specific designs that they own. To draw a dragon with the above design and go "this is something I made up out of nowhere" well I am calling the bullshit card on that one.
^^` Really, mate. You're taking things far too seriously. It's bordering on geek. They don't own dragon designs, it's all in the style of the artist. You even pointed out yourself that someone simply looked at a picture of an older dnd dragon and replicated it for a future DnD book. There are more than likely examples of people doing things differently for other generic species. Even then, they don't own the design. You can't copyright a "Brown" Dragon. It's like saying you can copyright a pose or a color.
It's akin to saying that DnD owns Elves and Dark Elves. And if anyone draws an elf in a green tunic with a brown bow, they have to say it's copyright DnD. The world doesn't work that way. The guy who made DnD did not invent his creatures, he took them all from ancient mythology with very few exceptions.
I see millions of dragons on FA and DA alone. Each is different. Each have a number of horns and a color. I sit behind my table at conventions and sell dragons of varying colors and designs, and I watch other artists do the same. Does that mean I can copyright the names "Rainbow dragon" and "Demon Dragon" and go after anyone who draws them remotely similar?
Sorry man, I can't stick around to keep this up. I need to get back to work.
It's akin to saying that DnD owns Elves and Dark Elves. And if anyone draws an elf in a green tunic with a brown bow, they have to say it's copyright DnD. The world doesn't work that way. The guy who made DnD did not invent his creatures, he took them all from ancient mythology with very few exceptions.
I see millions of dragons on FA and DA alone. Each is different. Each have a number of horns and a color. I sit behind my table at conventions and sell dragons of varying colors and designs, and I watch other artists do the same. Does that mean I can copyright the names "Rainbow dragon" and "Demon Dragon" and go after anyone who draws them remotely similar?
Sorry man, I can't stick around to keep this up. I need to get back to work.
You can easily draw a dragon and call it a "white dragon" but to take the design of a DnD white dragon draw it, call it your own design, that is something you can't do.
Also went on the net to look for some examples of different artists work to show you the same dragon drawn by different artists...all of them the same. And look even a "toy" or "figurine" of the same dragon design...the design is freaking copyrighted!
http://www.dfwd20.com/photopost/dat.....ite_Dragon.jpg
http://umbrarumregnum.110mb.com/the...../09/white.jpeg
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/M...../MM35_PG78.jpg
http://www.coolstuffinc.com/images/.....rizzticons.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2350.....94955abeee.jpg
Also went on the net to look for some examples of different artists work to show you the same dragon drawn by different artists...all of them the same. And look even a "toy" or "figurine" of the same dragon design...the design is freaking copyrighted!
http://www.dfwd20.com/photopost/dat.....ite_Dragon.jpg
http://umbrarumregnum.110mb.com/the...../09/white.jpeg
http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/M...../MM35_PG78.jpg
http://www.coolstuffinc.com/images/.....rizzticons.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2350.....94955abeee.jpg
^^ Okay, I'll play this game before I shut down for the night. I see a difference in those dragons. For one, one has a red hew to his wings. Some have a different color and number to their arm spikes. Clearly a difference in the number of toes. The underbelly of this dragon is cleary different to the dragons you linked. And one of the pictures is of a squirrel =P
Are you saying I can't draw a white dragon with a head frill? =P That's just wrong.
Are you saying I can't draw a white dragon with a head frill? =P That's just wrong.
I think you're just being purposely obtuse. There's a whole world of difference when the dragon design is copyrighted by a company, as I'm sure the Lockwood dragons are. Sure, you could go draw a white dragon with the same characteristics of a D&D one, but if you try and claim the design as your own and make a profit off it, you'd probably end up getting sued.
Anyway, if you guys want to keep arguing, please go do it somewhere else.
Anyway, if you guys want to keep arguing, please go do it somewhere else.
And for that matter, dragonlance has copywrited specific SPECIES Of dragons, just as pernese dragons are absolutely 100% copywrite Anne McAffery. They have a specific look you can't say isn't a pernese. Same goes for dragonlance dragons. Dragonlances' blacks are much different from D&D blacks.
^^` Well, yeah. It's okay to copyright species. (You missed out on my last block of text). That means that no one can take a dragon, call it a Pernese dragon, and try to write books off of them for cash. But the copyright ends there. You can still draw dragons that look like Pernese dragons, even make a character that looks like one, and call it your own, so long as you don't say they're Pernese dragons. You also, as a Temeraire example, can't run around calling a long, black dragon an Imperial and say that it's friend is a man named Lawerence, that it fights against Napoleon, and that it breaths air shockwaves. But it doesn't stop you from drawing a long black dragon.
The dragons in DnD and Dragonlance look that way because they're done by the same artists repeatedly, who draw dragons their own way in their own themes. You can still draw a similar looking dragon, since dragons are generic. You can even say you drew a dragon in the style of Stein if you want to be polite.
On the by, sorry for kidnapping your comment log like this, Saeto. I'll stop. This is still a cool dragon. ^^
The dragons in DnD and Dragonlance look that way because they're done by the same artists repeatedly, who draw dragons their own way in their own themes. You can still draw a similar looking dragon, since dragons are generic. You can even say you drew a dragon in the style of Stein if you want to be polite.
On the by, sorry for kidnapping your comment log like this, Saeto. I'll stop. This is still a cool dragon. ^^
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