Is it ok to appropriate historic designs and use them in contemporary graphic design?

September 11, 2010 | In: Graphic Designs

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Question by John S: Is it ok to appropriate historic designs and use them in contemporary graphic design?

Best answer:

Answer by Miss Elizabeth
If by historic, you mean 70 years or older, then yes, it is okay, and as far as I know, by that time there are no more copyright laws on it. For example, Marcel Duchamp’s “LHOOQ” (a postcard with a picture of Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa) and on it he drew a moustache and underneath of that he wrote “LHOOQ” which is a french acronym for something along the lines of “she has a hot ass”

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2 Responses to Is it ok to appropriate historic designs and use them in contemporary graphic design?

Sacred Beetle

September 11th, 2010 at 12:19 pm

If the artist has been dead for 70 and no family member has renewed the rights to their image, it’s ok.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page

That is a great site to find work that is a part of public domain, which means you can use it if you adhere to the conditions which are explained under most of the images.