Hello Paizo Publishing.
I have a simple request O.o.
I dont want to get in any legal trouble or anything so I will ask you first before i post it, though it shouldnt be much trouble at all.
A while ago I posted the idea of putting MTG monsters into D&D, and one of your guys said that probably wasnt going to happen.
So now i have decided to take the reverse approach and put D&D monsters into MTG.
So what I need from you is permission to be able to use the pictures of certain creatures from various issues (most notably the pyroclastic dragon).
I could just use the pic from the draconomicon but lets face the facts people, that picture doesnt even compare to the picture in #300. Your artists are top notch i tell ye!
And the reason i even ask this is because of MTG editor (program to let you make your own mtg cards) and you can upload pictures, etc.) Then I will probably post the cards somehow onto the forums of the MTG website.
No im not giving out stats or anything like that, I just need to be able to use the pictures.
If this has to be bumped to keep it alive then so be it, this is something I REALLY need cleared up before I go any farther.
A message board isn;t realy the sort of place to be asking this stuff... a letter to the company would probably work out better for you.
No im not giving out stats or anything like that, I just need to be able to use the pictures.
I'm not sure, but I think the artists actually retain ownership of their artwork, and Paizo just has the rights to use it in a specific product. I know I've seen artists selling artwork on their website, with a little note describing where it came from etc. Like I said, I'm not sure. I'll see if I can find out.
If the artists do still own the artwork, you'll definitely want to ask for permission before distributing anything. They probably won't mind if you use their artwork for a single card for your own personal use, but distributing it the way you're describing will DEFINITELY get you in trouble if you don't have their permission. As for whether you'll get the permission... That depends on the artist. Some won't mind having their artwork used in that context as long as the attribution is clear and no-one's making money off it, while others might not want people using their hard work for free. There might also be legal issues where allowing the artwork to be distributed in that format might cost the artist some of the rights to sell the work in the future.
Of course, if Paizo owns the rights to the artwork, you'll want to ask them too, for many of the same reasons. You'd likely be sued, and I doubt you'd win.
It looks like Paizo might own the artwork. In any event, you can probably use it for a card for yourself without any problems, but don't distribute it until you've got *written* permission from whoever actually does own it.