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prkaye

Well Known Member
It will be years before I'm at this point, but I'm sure I'm not the only new builder who has started thinking about how I will paint my RV-9A before the empannage kit even arrives!

Question - is it considered bad form to copy someone else's paint design? I found a guy whose RV-9A paint scheme and colours I absolutely love. It's so simple that I can't even think how I would change it or customize it. Is copying someone's paint design something that is just not done?
 
Land of the Free

Clearly a First Ammendment issue. People copy paint schemes all the time. I say go for it. Care to post a photo so that we can all copy it? :D
 
It would be most courteous if you asked the owner of the scheme you want to copy if he/she is okay with it. Most folks won't have a problem.

I made the mistake of paying Scheme Designers for a paint scheme and then posting it on my web site. Before I could get my Rocket painted, I found a RV-6 who shamelessly copied my "exclusive" scheme, just in a different color.

Now I'm back to square one again. It's due in the paint shop this fall so I'll have to come up with something different pretty soon.
 
This is most certainly NOT a first amendment issue. Any creative work, paint schemes included, are protect by the copyright laws. You do not have to 'apply' for a copyright to be protected.

That said, a simple design like the two-tone with pinstripe that you're talking about is so close to so many existing designs that I doubt a copyright infringement claim could be successful.

I think you ought to ask as a courtesy, but it probably isn't necessary.
 
mdredmond said:
This is most certainly NOT a first amendment issue. Any creative work, paint schemes included, are protect by the copyright laws. You do not have to 'apply' for a copyright to be protected.

That said, a simple design like the two-tone with pinstripe that you're talking about is so close to so many existing designs that I doubt a copyright infringement claim could be successful.

I think you ought to ask as a courtesy, but it probably isn't necessary.
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True I guess, but I was kidding about the 1st. In any case, I'd love to see somebody try to claim ownership of "red and white, with stripe". And while I'm at it, I'd like to remind all builders that I claim copyright protection for my "big fan in front/little wheel in back" design. :p
 
I've been an aviation artist for a number of years and self copyright everything I paint, a lot of times you find that your original one of a kind idea has already been thought of by someone else or you see many like yours after the piece has been completed. I wouldn't worry much about it , you will make it your own in a lot of ways. I think you are going to see a few RVs around in a while that look a lot like Paul Dye's perhaps mine included ;)

http://acam.ednet.ns.ca/paulsart/paulsart.htm

RV 8 Fuselage
 
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prkaye said:
.....is it considered bad form to copy someone else's paint design? I found a guy whose RV-9A paint scheme and colours I absolutely love........is copying someone's paint design something that is just not done?
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The shop that painted my C-150 in its unique and distinctive 4-color scheme had at least two other customers commission their aircraft to be painted exactly the same way. I once spied one of the planes (a Cessna 172) at another airport and for a nanosecond thought someone stole my airplane! I always took that as a compliment.
http://www.vansairforce.com/community/showthread.php?t=189&page=4&pp=10
 
I was honored several years ago when another RV builder contacted me and asked if he could copy my paint scheme. It wouldn't have been a problem if he hadn't asked, but it sure made me feel good that he liked my scheme well enough to copy it AND was polite enough to ask.
 
Permission

I saw a colour scheme on VANs AF site that I thought brought out the best of the RV-7 lines.
I snail mailed the owners in Arizona and received a delightful reply, sying that they would be delighted if I used the scheme and more helpful pictures that enable my son to project the profile from his MAC straight on to the Fuselage for masking.

I am sure that my Arizonian friends paid good money for the design and I felt oblige to contact them first.
Pete.
 
Whoa -- that hits close to home

prkaye said:
here is a link to that RV paint scheme I love... simple, clean lines, great colour.

http://www3.telus.net/aviation/flying/RV-9A/photos/Airframe/dsc00108_00_1.jpg

He used "It's Sherwin-Williams JetGlo", which is a high-gloss urethane.
Cost him $6,000CAD to have it done professionally.
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That's not my plane but it's darn near my paint scheme. Mine's even painted in Jetglo. Kind of gives me a unique perspective on the question. I guess I'd say it's OK to get "inspiration" from someone else. But please don't make it identical.

Wouldn't you feel a little wierd if that other guy showed up at Osh just across the aisle from you? People always check ID plates for the completion date. It would be obvious who copied who.

If you like red-over-white, there are a lot of ways to do it without being identical. It's YOUR plane. It ought to be unique.
 
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