oh man, ...Steelers , ...the bane of my existance.

....go Browns.

...yeah, ...I know we suck. ...but Orange and Brown til the death !
Ben was pretty stupid on the motorcycle ...... I like how he said in an interview, .....yeah, .... I'm done with those.
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Luis, ....actually I learned a lot more about copyright than I did know, ...probably became an expert in the process. I went on to do about a week's worth or more of research on the topic after the thread died.
Your question, ......Yes. Flat out, ....it's copyright infringement. To be extremely technical, ...that estate would have to be asked to use the material., ...for whatever purpose.
Now, ..with that said, ....we have to ask ourselves ....what exactly are you, we ...anybody doing with the material in this case? If this was just a practice render or even creted to just add to a portfolio, .....the case against it would be so unbelievably weak, ....any sensisble attorney/plaintiff wouldn't bring any litigation against it. There wouldn't be any gain, ....that's not an endorsement to break the law though ....
What I learned about copyright cases, .....the law itself was created for ethical purposes to protect the copyright holder and that's fine, ...we could also say ......it's really about money. If anyone is somehow making money off a direct violation of a copyright holder, ......that's where you'll find a case.
How many times have we seen paintings in renders? Lots. Unless the CG artist is also the painter, .....then a similar thing is comitted. How many actually contacted the artist or their estate? Yep.

...no answer necessary,........ this type of copyright is overlooked, .....because it's not really infringing, inhibiting or hurting in a direct way the copyright owner. In fact, ...most copyright holders prefer it, ....because it propagates their work to a wider audience. It certainly is not taking money away from them. Printing and selling it would be, .....but not this. Basically, .......it's nothing in the eyes general copyright law or the court, and most copyrright holders turn a blind eye to the practice.
At best, if the holder really didn't like it, .....you'd get a 'stop doing it ....'.
Now remember, .......I'm just talking about a personal pursuit, ....not something that gets brandished as commercial in any way.
btw: ....everytime us picture poster type people grab a google pic or any for that matter. We are by law required to contact the original holder of that copyright, ....explain ourselves and seek permission to use that image.
Well now ! , ....I don't know about the others ...no names please
(JD, 8etty...

), ....,
but I do just that every single time !!! Yeah, ......right.
My point is that , .......good common sense is all we really need to navigate through copyright law.
Although I did quit hotlinking to images ......another copyright infringement--- I learned in my research.
