When making a website, can you...

1. 74

   Richieb799posted 14 years ago

   take a photograph of a nightclub and use it as a illustration on your site without the owners permission? I don't see why not because its your own photo and its a public space..just wondering what y'all thought

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      waynetposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I think so long as you don't put the club in a negative light, I think it's ok and so long as you have something useful to contribute to your photo, then  I think that's fine, if there was anything wrong with doing this then the nightclub owners could object and the worse thing that could happen is they ask you to take it off your site, but that hardly happens for local pubs, clubs and stuff that would be actually and advertisement for the place anyway, free advertising I might add.

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      AEvansposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Absolutely! In fact notate that the pic was used and taken with the owners permission and notate his name.

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2. 74

   Richieb799posted 14 years ago

   Hey thanks wayne, Its not putting the club in a negative light.. I just used it as a background image..

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3. 68

   Bill Manningposted 14 years ago

   Any image you take yourself  you own, and is copyrighted by you. Therefor you can use it on your website anywhere you want, even if the article was negative.
   
   I take pictures of Disney all the time and use them, plus all the other theme parks down here in Orlando. I can't use a Disney photo from their own site that they took, although you could put a link to their site with it.
   
   But any I take myself I can use anywhere I want, any time I want. Same is true for youtube videos people take at events. You own that video and you own the copyright on it, as you made it.
   
   So as long as you took that picture you could use it and say the place is a dump, it's your own picture you hold the rights to.

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4. 79

   MyWebsposted 14 years ago

   Any image you take is copyrighted by you, true.. BUT some big corporations actually file a trademark on the building.
   
   If this is the case then you need the owner to sign a property release. Just because a building is in public doesn't necessarily mean you can publish your picture. There is an exception if its a new story. If you would profit in any way from the image you would need that property release for trademarked buildings. If I remember right sometimes artwork is also trademarked. I know with the Eiffel Tower no one is allowed to publish night time pictures of it without prior permission.
   
   I found this out the hard way after I bought a professional camera and planned to take pics of all the major Hotels on the Las Vegas Strip to sell as stock photography on istockphoto.com. I have 1 approved picture on istockphoto. I have since sold the camera. It is very unlikely that your neighborhood bar or club has a trademark on the building.
   
   @Bill Manning - As big as Disney is I would bet you dollars to dimes they DO have trademarks on their famous landmarks. Try printing up some postcards and advertise them for sale in the local FL. newspaper if your really want to gamble like your in Vegas. Mickey Mouse's peeps are gonna come to pay you a little visit.
   
   If your pictures have people that can be identified and your going to profit from the pictures, like say a poster or postcard or even a web page with ads, guess what. You need a model release.  You may own the rights to your pictures but you don't never own the right to publish people in your pictures for profit! Buildings, with no trademark you may.
   iStockphoto's property release: http://www.istockphoto.com/docs/propertyrelease.pdf
   
   CYA time - I'm not a lawyer, nor do I play one on TV. I can not offer legal advice. You are advised to seek competent legal advice from a lawyer, or risk getting your @$$ sued

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5. 70

   thisisoliposted 14 years ago

   @mywebs I  have never heard about copyrighting buildings before, that really is incredibly worrying!

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      darksideposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      It can and has been done.
      
      The Eiffel Tower at night (with the lights on) is trademarked, apparently.
      
      You need permission to use the image or to sell it. So other than happy snaps you can't try and make any money from it or use it for promotion.

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         waynetposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Good job they disintegrated it in the recent GI Joe film and it must be true because they caught it on camera ....go Cobra!

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         1. 65

            darksideposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            They destroyed it in Team America as well didn't they?
            
            And here's a mention of the copyright claim at Wikipedia for anyone who is interested:
            
            

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6. 71

   sunforgedposted 14 years ago

   http://www.patentcopyrighttrademarkblog … hitecture/
   
   has some limited info about property release and how it relates to publically viewable buildings
   
   
   and some very specific info about disney and trademarks..photos you would be getting on private property

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