5 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}
5 {{ upvoteCount | shortNum }}

Do they get permission?

by ckbank
4 replies
What's the policy on using celebrity images? I've seen lots of Top 1000 websites that use the images of celebrities for different purposes. Examples include AskMen, Cracked, and BuzzFeed. Do they get permissions to use these images?
#permission
  • Profile picture of the author Nicola Lane
    Yes, they do, there are services that you can subscribe to for celebrity images - they are expensive!

    Hope that helps
    Signature

    I like to keep an open mind, but not so open that my brains fall out

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7480969].message }}
    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      If they don't get permission, and/or if they don't take them only from sites giving "open permission" (and even with those, there can still be occasional accidents!), then they're living very dangerously: many celebrities and media photographers are members of agencies who employ people specifically to scour the internet for breaches of copyright involving their clients' photos, and retain lawyers on a "no-win-no-fee" basis to pursue breaches of them relentlessly and - dare I say? - avariciously. This is one form of breach of copyright really, really not to mess about with, because the nature of the people whose rights you can breach makes it unusually high risk to do so, hence all the horror stories around this issue. A "cease and desist letter" can be the least of your problems, with this.
      {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7481172].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author Corey Geer
    It depends on the image...

    The only time a legal issue ever comes up is when a picture that wasn't supposed to be seen surfaces and websites start distributing it. Kind of like those "sex tape scandals" that come up every now and again on celebrities that deny it.

    As far as obtaining permission to use just general celebrity pictures or paparazzi pictures, no, not really. If you're trying to defame their character or use them in a negative way and the wrong person sees it, then yes, I would stay clear from that. I doubt you're going to find a cease and desist letter just from using general pictures (I'm not sure what your intentions are yet). It also depends on the site you get pictures from because some websites give everyone a "license" to use them however they want (as long as the pictures are the original work of the site/company you found them on).
    Signature

    Skype: Coreygeer319

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7481186].message }}
  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    Originally Posted by ckbank View Post

    What's the policy on using celebrity images? I've seen lots of Top 1000 websites that use the images of celebrities for different purposes. Examples include AskMen, Cracked, and BuzzFeed. Do they get permissions to use these images?
    What others do is really irrelevant. You shouldn't be making your decisions based off of what others do. You should be making your decisions based on the law... and the law states you cannot use other people's work without permission from the creator.
    Signature

    .


    .

    {{ DiscussionBoard.errors[7481207].message }}

Trending Topics