Can a Copy-write for an image found on the web be defeated by making changes to the image ?

First of all, it is copyright - the right to control copies.

And the question you are asking is called derivative works. If a court of law (or the maker) were to look at your work and say - that is my picture with red changed to blue in the background - then it would almost certainly be a violation of copyright. Another way of saying it would be if a person on the jury were easily able to say - "Yah, these are the same, except for that bit of color there."

If by change of proportioning you mean the actual content - making a car in the image twice as long - then you might get away with it, but if you mean changing the cropping from 4x6 to 3.9x5.25, then unlikely.

Another change that might be acceptable would be willful distortion of the image for satirical or creative intent - for example you took an image of a car, squashed the top, stretched the back to make tail fins and pulled out the nose to make it look like a shark or sword fish to tag the maker as going after the little guy.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. This is true because what someone else thinks is beautiful, I definitely do not always agree. It hasn't changed though because straight hair was the thing in the late 60's and early 70's. Curly hair reared its head again in the 80's and now in the 21st century Black women are either wearing wigs at ages 16 through 100 or going completely natural giving up the chemicals for a safer do. As far as tanning, I guess the ghostly look is not so popular in the majority of our Earthly world. I don't know about Asia but most other countries thinks pasty is uncouth.

I like "Mike's" answer and have given it a "thumbs up."

Often, when a copyright issues ends up in court, it is up to a judge or jury to determine if a violation has, in fact, taken place. That means that it is up to someone's "interpretation," or "gut feeling" because there is no "percentage of change" rule that can be easily applied to a piece of art. Certain elements can't be copyrighted, such as the shape and configuration of the human body. But the arrangement of a pose, props and background MIGHT be.

A good place to start your research on what a "real" answer to your question might be would be for you to read the copyright laws for yourself. If you intend to be involved in any part of the graphics field, it would be a good idea to know YOUR legal rights and your responsibilities.

http://www.copyright.gov/