[LRflex] Re: legal advice on copyright infringement
- From: Tina Manley <images@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: leicareflex@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 31 Aug 2012 14:14:54 -0400
I agree with David. An oral permission from the family is worth the paper
it is written on! If the photos are by freelance or agency photographers,
you will have to have a signed release from the individual photographers
for any use, especially fund-raising. Some photos by government agencies
are in the public domain but some are not. I would certainly not use
another photographer's work in any way without a signed release.
Tina
On Fri, Aug 31, 2012 at 11:16 AM, David Young <dsy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
>
> > Hi All,
> > I am posing a copyright question to the group for an opinion. I have a
> > friend who is doing a WWII tribute gallery of sorts
> > in the lobby of a mini-mall that he owns. He has used various photos he
> > copied from WWII books by the author Stephen Ambrose and other sources.
> > Mr. Ambrose was a native of my town here in Whitewater, WI. His family
> > gave permission for using the books for reference material and photos
> > contained. I had cautioned my friend about copyright infringement and
> > to optain written permission from the copyright holder of the photos.
> > He maintains that since he got permission from the authors family that
> > it was not necessary. A recent email from Stephen Ambrose's son states
> > that since "most" of the photos taken during WWII were from the army
> > signal corps they belong to the American people and no copyright exists.
> > I also told him that many famous photos were taken by embedded news
> > photographers working for agencies and I believe those agencies and or
> > photographers own the copyrights to their photos. He now wants to
> > donate some copies of these photos to a non profit org. for the purpose
> > of selling framed copies for fund raising. He would be writing off the
> > donation for tax purposes so would be getting financial gain as well as
> > the non-profit org. though their sales. Do I have reason for concern?
> > Opinions? Sorry for the long post but I know many of you here are well
> > versed in photography copyright law.
> >
> > Thanks,
> > Dave Saalsaa
>
> G'Mornin' David!
>
> Yes. I'd say you have reason for concern. Especially in the USA, which is
> the
> most litigious country in the world.
>
> Using the photos, in a mini-mall display will likely not get him in much,
> if
> any, trouble. Even without permission.
>
> After all, the copyright owner's first move would be a "cease and desist"
> request... and so long as he complied, he'd likely be OK. The copyright
> owner
> could sue for a portion of the "gain", but since it's a public display,
> without
> admission charge, the gain would only be in advertising value, and likely
> be
> judged low - as we're talking a mini-mall, not a venue with national
> exposure.
> Thus, with little to gain, it would not be worth the copyright owner's
> time &
> money, to sue.
>
> Now, selling them, even for a non-profit organization, incurs a measurable
> gain, and thus makes both him and the non-profit more likely to be sued for
> infringement.
>
> Is it possible that the book he is "lifting" the images from, has an
> appendix
> stating who took the images? If it did, he might restrict himself to the
> copyright free, government images and solve his dilemma.
>
> Certainly, were I in his shoes, I would not proceed without getting
> permission,
> in writing, from the copyright owner's family. It seems that he has a
> verbal
> OK, and the family is probably pleased (if not thrilled) that the author's
> work
> is seeing the light of day, once again. But, did that verbal OK, also
> cover
> selling copies of his work?
>
> Even with the verbal OK, it is much like any other verbal contract. Worth
> only
> the paper it's written on! Should the family change their mind, he has
> nothing
> with which to protect himself.
>
> Please do not take any of the above as legal advice... for I am not a
> lawyer.
> But this is how I interpret Canadian Copyright law (very similar to US
> law) for
> my own purposes.
>
> Good Luck!
> David.
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>
--
Tina Manley, ASMP
www.tinamanley.com
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