>But if I took 100 paintings from a single artist and combined them all into new works of art, that would probably be copyright infringement in my view, and is what seems to be happening here.
If I look at 100 paintings by Pablo Picasso and then paint a new one in his style, did I commit copyright infringement?
That's a good question. My immediate answer would tend to be no.
But consider you produced a comic-book about Mickey Mouse where the character Mickey Mouse looked exactly like the one in the several Disney books and movies. You would probably get sued. Right?
If I look at 100 paintings by Pablo Picasso and then paint a new one in his style, did I commit copyright infringement?