questions about backgrounds and art work in general.

[Quasimodo]

I am no artist if i tried to draw a stick man it would qualify for a disabled parking permit. so i rely on others who do have the talent to make art, my question is when i see something i want to use as a background or for personal use. as an example i am using the hud green theme on this computer, i have the green biohazard background set as the only background and i edited the picture to remove the portion where it says infected and copy and mirrored the other side so where it said infected had the same blotchy green spots. 75155 as you can see i am using a lavafox green theme on my cyberfox browser but i would like to use the edited background from the hudgreen theme. here is where the copyright stuff confuses me, could i use that picture i modified on a browser theme as long as i am not distributing it to others? or do i need permission from the creator to use it at all? plus is editing it appropiate or do i need permission to edit the background? i am never sure when using stuff for myself if i am not giving it or selling it to other people.

any help any of you grerat artists can give me would be appreciated

Quasi

[Mr GRiM]

If it's for personal use then you can do whatever you want with it, depending on what the original artists request you may have to give credit and a link to the original authors work if you want to share something you have modified, By the way The original author of that wall is Submicron on DA http://submicron.deviantart.com/gallery/ who is an awesome artists and was awesome enough to let me use some of his walls in my HUD themes.

[Quasimodo]

thanks mr grim i never know and do not want to step on anyones toes, i play around in 3d worlds and create mesh clothing which i sell but i never use any graphics on them because of the copy right issue. i have used some on my personal clothing that only i wear in there but was told by somone that i shouldnt even be using them on things i make for myself so I figured i should check and see what artists themselves think about personal use. i can understand of i am selling it, but the personal use was always a confusing area for me