MY ART USED IN A TV COMMERCIAL FOR "GAY, STRAIGHT OR TAKEN"

Above the original collage Fusion Series #1512 from 1999

above is logo for a new TV show
below is a shot of my diningroom at Casa del Artista in Cuernavaca, Mexico

I was watching TV this evening and for a brief moment during a commercial for a new show called GAY, STRAIGHT OR TAKEN? on TBS or The Lifetime Channel. I saw what looked like one of my paintings in the background. I have TIVO so was able to rewind. Sure enough, someone has used my image and remade it into a derivative work to fit the stageset they were going for. I am not sure what to make of it. Is that copyright infringement?

Don't get me wrong, I am flattered but I would sure like to know how my design became the inspiration for the painting on the show's set. Since it is based on my image it would have been nice if I were consulted, notified, paid a copyright or given credit.

I'm a nice guy and I like to see my images in mass media. After all I am a Massurrealist.
My images have been used in posh hotel rooms from New York City to Japan and as book and CD covers. I encourage it. I'll work out a do-able deal with anybody that want's to use my images. So I don't want them to cease and desist. I like it. But some sort of public reference to me would be nice from whoever placed that image out there. I mean, after all, it must be a well meaning fan and maybe even a collector of my art that got that image in there and I appriciate it. But still, it makes me a little uneasy at least until I hear from somebody in the know about how that happened.

I know how it is. As a collage artist I use pre-existing materials all of the time. Images are everywhere and once you have an image, if you didn't note the source when you collected it, your not likely to be able to figure out where it came from at the time you want to use it. The same thing happens in music all the time.

also my painting above


Below a derivative work based on my painting from the TV commercial for "Gay, Straight or Taken?".

Below my painting in an exhibition at the New Gallery in Houston, Texas in 2003