It's time for this month's State of the Union. Come on in for a visit.

Regarding the copyright thing I think the right and potential action of the original photographer has involved in this case:

Under copyright law, the photographer is the original “author” and copyright owner of a photograph. if a painting is based on the photograph it is considered a copy of that work (especially if the paintings are reproduced en mass to sell prints and t-shirts and cards etc...)

Thus, the painting constitutes infringement unless you have the copyright owner’s consent (the photographer).

Because the painting itself is already an unauthorized copy of the photograph without the consent of the original creator.

So for the submitter (uncle) who submitted a photo taken by someone else (the father). There might be issue if the photographer was not aware that his photo has been submitted to RGD and become a subject of an artwork and then use in a commercial scenario.

This incidence would be very rare in RGD history because most of submitters are the photographers/creator of the photos themselves and RGD artists very rarely sold their RGD pieces.

The focus is on the uncle who submitted the photo. He should have a better communication and agreement with the father regarding the consent to have his photo reproduced into an artwork ("I am going to post the photo You taken of your son on RGD, the drawing may be re-published elsewhere or even sold on-lines by the artists there. Do You give me the permission to do that?").

I is a grey area if the submitter of the photo is not the original creator of the said photo.

The father may have concern with the likeness of his son being used in a commercial scenario as well.

Artists must be doubly careful when using photographs of people as references for their work.

An artist may need multiple permissions, not only from the photographer, under copyright, but also from the person depicted, under the rights of privacy and publicity.

The wiki rule for submitter:

You may only submit photos of yourself and your close, immediate loved ones to be drawn. Our list of approved relationships is limited to: Relatives, spouses, significant others, your own pets, and best friends.

I believe the rule need an extra clause in which stated that the photo must be taken by the submitter him/herself and he/she gives full right to the artist to make an artwork based on it. If the photo was taken by someone else, the submitter must have the permission of the photographer for the artwork as well, no matter how close the relationship between the submitter and the photographer.

/r/redditgetsdrawn Thread