Hi I currently do children's discos and have added some super heroes to the mix and it's been a big hit. I have heard from some people that this is against the copyright laws. Is this the case and if so how do I go about getting permissions.
I have seen lots of people doing similar parties and until doing some searching online thought this was ok.
Character parties
Hi chris,
I'm not sure what you mean by adding "super heroes to the mix". Does this mean you or the childrfen dress in costumes of various super heroes? Or do you want to use images of super heroes in some way?
If it's the former, and you/the children are dressing up in costumes (preferably one supplied under licence) then that shouldn't present any problems as there is no infringement of copyright in wearing a costume. However using pictures of super heroes taken from authorised or unauthorised sources such as the internet, magazines or movie stills, or using video clips from movies, without permission could well constitute infringement, for which I don't think there would be any relevant exception which you could use to escape liability.
Unfortunately there is no central licensing agency you could approach, and you would need to speak to the relevant copyright owner for each character you wished to use. That said, there are actually very few owners, the main ones being Marvel Comics (part of the Disney Corporation), and DC Comics (owned by Time Warner) so it may be a simpler task than it appears at first sight to get a blanket permission.
Please come back with more details if I have not covered to purpose you are asking about.
I'm not sure what you mean by adding "super heroes to the mix". Does this mean you or the childrfen dress in costumes of various super heroes? Or do you want to use images of super heroes in some way?
If it's the former, and you/the children are dressing up in costumes (preferably one supplied under licence) then that shouldn't present any problems as there is no infringement of copyright in wearing a costume. However using pictures of super heroes taken from authorised or unauthorised sources such as the internet, magazines or movie stills, or using video clips from movies, without permission could well constitute infringement, for which I don't think there would be any relevant exception which you could use to escape liability.
Unfortunately there is no central licensing agency you could approach, and you would need to speak to the relevant copyright owner for each character you wished to use. That said, there are actually very few owners, the main ones being Marvel Comics (part of the Disney Corporation), and DC Comics (owned by Time Warner) so it may be a simpler task than it appears at first sight to get a blanket permission.
Please come back with more details if I have not covered to purpose you are asking about.
Advice or comment provided here is not and does not purport to be legal advice as defined by s.12 of Legal Services Act 2007