# Legality of repainting boardgames for resell? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 13, 2009, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-repainting-boardgames-for-resell/506348 "2009-08-13T22:21:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-repainting-boardgames-for-resell/506348/21 "2009-08-14T17:06:05Z")
A common thing is to take “lead” miniatures/toy soldiers, paint them and resell them. AFAIK, the figure manufacturers not only condone this, they like it. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-repainting-boardgames-for-resell/506348/22 "2009-08-14T17:15:30Z")
> [@TimeWinder](#): > > Careful, there. Derivative works don’t get freedom from copyright. I can’t paint my own art over parts of copyrighted (to someone else) photographs and sell them, for example. Heck, I can’t even make a standalone painting of a photograph I don’t have the copyright to. I’m not sure it’s nearly this cut and dried. I don’t think that’s completely true. As long as you buy each copy of the photograph print from someone who can legally make and sell it, then you should be within your rights to paint over parts of it and then resell it. Of course, you could only sell the originals, since you could not legally make prints of your derivative work. And you’re correct that you couldn’t make a painting of someone else’s photograph. So I guess the painting you make on top of someone else’s photo would have to _not_ be just a painted version of the underlying photo, but something else entirely. Copyright controls the copying of work, and if you’re just painting individual works of art over copies you paid for, then you’re in the clear. You haven’t copied anyone’s work. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-repainting-boardgames-for-resell/506348/23 "2009-08-14T18:47:59Z")
Materially different would be if you changed the function or major components for non-OEM-style components. For example, if I ripped all the guts out of a Dell and replaced them with whitebox components, I couldn’t sell the computer as a Dell without risking a trade infringement. ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-repainting-boardgames-for-resell/506348/24 "2009-08-14T19:31:46Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Isn’t this exactly the issue at question in the case of the [Barack Obama “Hope” poster](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barack_Obama_%22Hope%22_poster) created by Shepard Fairey and based, apparently, on a photo taken by a freelance photographer for the AP? Fairey is claiming that his creation was fair use of the photo, but I don’t think that the issue has been settled finally. Not really applicable here as that case involves both a derivative work rather than a straight up modification of the original work, and the making of copies. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-repainting-boardgames-for-resell/506348/25 "2009-08-14T19:51:23Z")
I realize that. My post was in response to the one by **Timewinder**. ---
**Author:** ![ivn1188](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e480ec/32.png) [@ivn1188](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivn1188)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-repainting-boardgames-for-resell/506348/26 "2009-08-14T20:16:00Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > I don’t think that’s completely true. > > As long as you buy each copy of the photograph print from someone who can legally make and sell it, then you should be within your rights to paint over parts of it and then resell it. Of course, you could only sell the originals, since you could not legally make prints of your derivative work. And you’re correct that you couldn’t make a painting of someone else’s photograph. So I guess the painting you make on top of someone else’s photo would have to _not_ be just a painted version of the underlying photo, but something else entirely. > > Copyright controls the copying of work, and if you’re just painting individual works of art over copies you paid for, then you’re in the clear. You haven’t copied anyone’s work. Maybe. There’s still considerable tension between the first sale doctrine and derivative works theories. [This blog post](http://lawgeek.typepad.com/lawgeek/2004/01/zephoria_kulesh.html) is a decent summary of the history of this same issue. Mirage and Munoz v ART are classics (and wrong), and might indicate that painting up a board game is a copyright violation, perhaps even regardless of selling it. In reality, I doubt anyone will care. ---
**Author:** ![supergoose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/aeb1de/32.png) [@supergoose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supergoose)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-repainting-boardgames-for-resell/506348/27 "2009-08-14T20:16:36Z")
I probably won’t be actually doing this, but just to cover all my bases, purchasing new boardgames and painting them for resell wouldn’t be any different legally from purchasing used ones for that purpose, right? And thank you again, everyone. ---
**Author:** ![Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e56c9b/32.png) [@Harriet\_the\_Spry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harriet_the_Spry)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2009, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-repainting-boardgames-for-resell/506348/28 "2009-08-14T20:33:13Z")
You might find the travails of Mattel and the Barbie modifiers instructive: [http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,32109,00.html](http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,32109,00.html) I don’t know enough about this aspect of the law to even dip my toe in, but the issues seem very close. BTW, I think the idea of repainting or modifying board games is really cool, and might even try it myself for home use. I don’t have the kind of time to sink into it that you’d need to worry about me as a competitor, though. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/legality-of-repainting-boardgames-for-resell/506348.md?page=1)