Just curious (and pardon my ignorance), wouldn't the image be
grandfathered under the laws from when the image was originally produced?
On 8/28/10 7:29 AM, mark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
James you are exactly right about the persons image, but he does have
one surviving heir. His daughter can ok that and will I feel sure. She
gets the first copy of the book.
Even that though is not necessarily cut and dried. Some public figures
it would be just fine. Put a picture of the president on a book that
was political opinion and in the US you would likely be home free. Use
it to endorse a product, and to quote Jim Lovell, "Houston we have a
problem".
There are so many things to consider. Thanks for the help everyone.
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: RE: copyright question
From: James Schenken <jds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:jds@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
Date: Fri, August 27, 2010 5:10 pm
To: List for Photo/Imaging Educators - Professionals - Students
<photoforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:photoforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>>
Chris:
What you seem to be referring to is a “work for hire�. It is
very unlikely that the photographer provided service in this context.
A clue would be that ‘works for hire’ activities results in
the subject receiving both prints as well as all of the negatives.
That is extremely uncommon in the portrait business.
Another issue that might apply here is the concept that the image
of the person is something that they can control. You see this
typically in the arena of celebrities and movie stars. Their
images have commercial value and they can control the use of it. I
suspect that unless special legal arrangements were made prior to
the time these folks died, then all such rights expired with them.
For example, even though John Wayne is long dead, the commercial
rights to his image are still restricted. You couldn’t just past
his image on the cover of a book and not expect there to be
repercussions.
Cheers,
James
------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From:* owner-photoforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:photoforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
[mailto:owner-photoforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
<mailto:photoforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>] *On Behalf Of *Chris
*Sent:* Friday, August 27, 2010 5:53 PM
*To:* List for Photo/Imaging Educators - Professionals - Students
*Subject:* RE: copyright question
I think that in this case the copy right belongs to the subject
not the photographer as it is a photograph of the subject and the
subject paid to have the photograph taken. It will depend on the
agreement the subject signed at the time.
Chris
