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I think this is more accurately treated as a work of art, _not_ an invention.
Let me quote Rogers v. Koons and Sonnabend Gallery, Inc. (960 F.2d 301,
cert. denied 113 S. Ct. 365).
Artist Jeff Koons purchased a notecard with a photograph of a couple sitting
on a bench holding eight puppies in their arms. He then made 4 life-sized
sculptures which closely reproduced the image, with some differences, such
as adding flowers to the woman's hair, changing the back of the bench, etc.
Three of the sculptures were subsequently sold for a large sum of money.
When the photographer Art Rogers found out about it and sued, Koons tried to
argue that the photograph was not original and shouldn't be copyrightable to
begin with. The court disagreed, saying, "the quantity of originality that
need be shown is modest--only a dash of it will do." and further, "No copier
may defend the act of plagiarism by pointing out how much of the copy he has
not pirated."
That being said, I believe the white model would easily fall under the
category of infringement. Bram's model, on the other hand would probably
not be infringement, since it is a work of art derived from a mass-produced
machine that isn't technically a work of art. (although most people
including myself would say it is a wonderful work of art.) Lamborghini
could probably argue it, but they couldn't care less about 130 euros.
Fair Use, on the other hand, protects such things as displaying images of
the art to promote an article about the artist for example, or the temporary
cacheing of images on one's computer for browsing.
If you are interested in a more complete account of Rogers v.
Koons/Sonnabend Gallery, Inc., have a look at the article in the 2001
Artist's & Graphic Designer's Market, by Writer's Digest Books.
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