A Note on Fair Use in an AI Era
I began drawing this coloring book for myself before “generative AI” was a household term. People were using Midjourney to make appealing scenes, and I tried a few times, but found that it wasn’t as fun for me as drawing from my imagination. I didn’t just want the result – I wanted to MAKE something.
Now, of course, Ai generated coloring pages, ripe with weird fingers and mysterious artifacts, abound, Many AI enthusiasts argue that all art uses other art as reference – and while that’s true, AI doesn’t give its source list or credit the original creators. That’s what this guide does, as best I can.
Many of the photo references are my own. For those I found online, I’m including the original, both so you can color it faithfully if desired, reverse search the photographer if desired, and to show the transformation of use. Fair Use law depends on the transformation of a copyrighted image into something else- in this case, from a photograph of an object or animal into a line-art illustration for coloring, added to a larger scene of my own imagination. I am grateful to all of the photographers whose works helped me create Goblin Gifts, named and unnamed, and include the photos here.