Is it okay for me to use a picture of a celebrity and mention their name in my h

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   HoneyBBposted 12 years ago

   Is it okay for me to use a picture of a celebrity and mention their name in my hub?
   
   I have a picture of the statue of Marilyn Monroe that I took and I wanted to use it in my hub but I'm not sure if it's legal to.

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   The Invincibleposted 12 years ago

   Oh definitely Yes, it is!  Think no more!

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      HoneyBBposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks! I'm overloaded with trying to learn everything and trying to find everything I need to learn while also trying to write a hub so I took the easy way out and asked.  Thanks so much for your help.

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   fpherj48posted 12 years ago

   Honey BB.....Celebrities are fair game.  Their pictures, their lives, their history.  Celebrities basically have no privacy.  This is more than obvious,  They and stories of them appear in thousands of books, magazines and every other media means.
   I definitely can relate to your admission of having "so much to learn."  Relax.  I'm in my 16th. month and still learning.  What you don't know, you can usually find in the learning center.....and just by reading the hubs of our fellow-hubbers.  There are numerous hubs written on the ins and outs of Hubpages.....not to mention that hubbers are the most helpful and generous people on earth.......Welocme to HP and much luck to you!

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      HoneyBBposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for expanding on that. I don't know why it didn't occur to me that celebs were fair game. Now that you put it that way, I think about the papparazzi and think to myself, "DUH?"

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   Uninvited Writerposted 12 years ago

   You still have to ensure that the photographs are free for anyone to use.

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      HoneyBBposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks so much, in this case it was my own photo. I still haven't messed around with the photo sites. I appreciate your advice and will make sure they're free when I use them.

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   junksellerposted 12 years ago

   It isn't necessarily that simple. You didn't take a picture of a celebrity. You took a picture of a STATUE of a celebrity. The statue itself may be a work of art with a copyright held by the sculptor. Being in a public space doesn't place the artwork into the public domain.
   
   Copyright issues are very complex. That is why there are some lawyers for whom that is all they do. There are 'fair use' exemptions which can be claimed when a work is being used for an educational, critical, scholarly, satirical, or newsworthy purpose. Part of weighing a fair-use claim is accounting for economic considerations. If you copy a work to make money and/or infringe on the ability of a copyright holder to make money, than a fair-use claim is harder to support.
   
   In this particular case, you probably are making little or no money and there are probably a bazillion photos of that statue all over the place, so you are likely pretty safe. That doesn't mean you are technically legal, just that is unlikely the artist would ever seek a legal remedy against you.
   
   Also, it is always a good idea (for legal reasons and to be courteous) to give someone else's work proper attribution. In your case I would caption the photos with the name of the artwork, the artist, and location.
   "Forever Marilyn" Artist: Seward Johnson. Pioneer Court Chicago, IL. (for example).
   
   I am not a legal professional. This is just to the best of my understanding.

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      HoneyBBposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Wow, awesome advice! And, is that the actual artist I should attribute my statue photo to? Thanks for all the info. Greatly appreciated.

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