Copying Art Style?

[Pine Towers]

Hi guys, I guess you're the best to answer this silly question of mine.


I have a game that I absolutely love the art style, and find it the best style for my game. I know I can't just rip the sprites since they're copyrighted. But this other questions are too grey (in the terms of the law) for me:


1. Frankensprites (not endorsing, only questioning) with recolors are still copyright infringement, right? Even if its hard to see the original sources?


2. Assuming nº 1 is not permitted, how can I sprite from scratch without fear of being accused of doing nº 1? I would have to search every sprite of the source/inspiration to actively avoid copying poses?


Thank you for your patience, again remembering that the idea is not circumvent the law, but work with it to rightfully allow a sprite art that resembles (pays homage) to a favorite game of mine.

 

[chalkdust]

1. Yes, that's copyright infringement.


2. If you actually produce novel work, it will be measurably different from others in size, shape, shading, proportions, etc. If you copy, it will be detectable.


You should consider purchasing a commercial license to resources in the style that you want.

 

[Atlas Rose]

Using the same sprite but just recoloring it is still infringement, so unless you have explicit permission, trying to do a similar style is definitely the better option. That said, you can't really copyright a pose. It's like if I wanted to draw a woman on a bike, I don't have to look through every drawing of a woman on a bike just to make sure mine doesn't look too much like someone else's because it's very common in real life. 


If you really want to do it in that style, my suggestion is to take what you really like about the source material and write it down on paper or in notepad or something. Then, go take a long break doing something else (a day or two is great). After your break, some back and look at just the notes you took, NOT the source material, and try to make your sprites based off of those notes. You'll find that what you end up with is pretty close to what you wanted without being too much like your source.

 

[Pine Towers]

Thank you @chalkdust and @Atlas Rose about your perceptions. I think I'll try my own sprite style inspired, not copied, from the source. It will delay my project, but it is better to do something right than to do something quick.