Hi
I am new to this forum and have a couple of copyright questions, if you can please help.
1. Am I allowed to reproduce any image of a music festival that no longer exists? It will be a homage to the festival with a list of the artists that performed there. I would also like to do the same with a building that used to be a music venue is that possible.
2. I am looking to purchase an image from a photo stock company of a sportsperson/musician that has passed away, again can I reproduce this image with their name for reselling.
Many thanks
Copyright Questions
Re: Copyright Questions
Hi tina,
What is the image of the music festival? Is it a poster or a photograph? In either case copyright will still exist even though the festival no longer exists, and you should seek permission to use it. If it is a poster then the event organisers will almost certainly be the copyright owners, while copyright in a photograph may belong to the photographer who took it, or if it was commissioned by the organisers, they may now own the copyright. Either way I would suggest a good starting point would be to try and track down the organisers of the music festival, although this may take some detective work. If, after a really thorough search you come up with nothing, you could apply for an orphan works licence from the Intellectual Property Office. This would protect you from any claim of infringement should the copyright owner turn up later. As for the building, do you have your own photograph of it, or are you asking about using a photograph you have found on the internet? If it's the former then as it's your copyright you can do what you like, but if it's a photograph you've found, the same applies as for the first part of the question: you need to track down the copyright owner and get permission.
As for your second question, when you apply to purchase [a licence to use] the image from the stock agency, you need to establish the terms of their licence to see if you can re-sell the altered image. It will certainly be possible, but you need to get the right licence.
What is the image of the music festival? Is it a poster or a photograph? In either case copyright will still exist even though the festival no longer exists, and you should seek permission to use it. If it is a poster then the event organisers will almost certainly be the copyright owners, while copyright in a photograph may belong to the photographer who took it, or if it was commissioned by the organisers, they may now own the copyright. Either way I would suggest a good starting point would be to try and track down the organisers of the music festival, although this may take some detective work. If, after a really thorough search you come up with nothing, you could apply for an orphan works licence from the Intellectual Property Office. This would protect you from any claim of infringement should the copyright owner turn up later. As for the building, do you have your own photograph of it, or are you asking about using a photograph you have found on the internet? If it's the former then as it's your copyright you can do what you like, but if it's a photograph you've found, the same applies as for the first part of the question: you need to track down the copyright owner and get permission.
As for your second question, when you apply to purchase [a licence to use] the image from the stock agency, you need to establish the terms of their licence to see if you can re-sell the altered image. It will certainly be possible, but you need to get the right licence.
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
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tingab18@gmail.com
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Re: Copyright Questions
Hi Andy
Many thanks that's really helpful. Could you also advise if I just wanted to print a list of artists' names onto a t-shirt/screen print, would I have to obtain individual permission directly from each artist to do this? It will purely be their name or band name no images of them.
I have also heard elsewhere that I won't need to if they have passed away? is that right?
Thanks again it's really appreciated.
Tania
Many thanks that's really helpful. Could you also advise if I just wanted to print a list of artists' names onto a t-shirt/screen print, would I have to obtain individual permission directly from each artist to do this? It will purely be their name or band name no images of them.
I have also heard elsewhere that I won't need to if they have passed away? is that right?
Thanks again it's really appreciated.
Tania
Re: Copyright Questions
Hi Tania,
Sorry for getting you name wrong last time!
No you don't need permission to put the artists' names on a tee shirt. There is no copyright in a name either of an individual or a band, and you would not be in danger of anyone mistaking the reference to an artist as being an endorsement by them of another product such as the tee shirt itself.
In some states in the USA there are so-called publicity rights laws which do limit the extent to which a person's name or likeness etc can be used where this might be construed as advertising, but they don't apply in the UK.
Sorry for getting you name wrong last time!
No you don't need permission to put the artists' names on a tee shirt. There is no copyright in a name either of an individual or a band, and you would not be in danger of anyone mistaking the reference to an artist as being an endorsement by them of another product such as the tee shirt itself.
In some states in the USA there are so-called publicity rights laws which do limit the extent to which a person's name or likeness etc can be used where this might be construed as advertising, but they don't apply in the UK.
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
-
tingab18@gmail.com
- New Member
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Mon Oct 19, 2020 5:29 pm
Re: Copyright Questions
Hi Andy
Sorry for the delay in thanking you for your help on my last question, it was really useful.
I have another query if you wouldn't mind helping me with.
We are working on a design of a hand-illustrated compilation of country pubs drawings that we plan to sell as limited edition prints.
There will be roughly 20 pubs on the final poster canvas, and the overall print will have a header title relating to the county the pubs are situated with a slogan underneath.
Each of the individual drawings are illustrated in a very quirky almost child-like style from photographs we have taken ourselves of the individual pubs.
The individual drawings do feature the pub name and signage, but again this has been personally hand-drawn. Each of the pubs individually takes up less than 5% of the surface area of the whole print.
My questions are...
Firstly would we need permission from the pubs before we could safely sell these prints and
secondly, would we be infringing on any copyright within these drawings.
Many thanks
Tania
Sorry for the delay in thanking you for your help on my last question, it was really useful.
I have another query if you wouldn't mind helping me with.
We are working on a design of a hand-illustrated compilation of country pubs drawings that we plan to sell as limited edition prints.
There will be roughly 20 pubs on the final poster canvas, and the overall print will have a header title relating to the county the pubs are situated with a slogan underneath.
Each of the individual drawings are illustrated in a very quirky almost child-like style from photographs we have taken ourselves of the individual pubs.
The individual drawings do feature the pub name and signage, but again this has been personally hand-drawn. Each of the pubs individually takes up less than 5% of the surface area of the whole print.
My questions are...
Firstly would we need permission from the pubs before we could safely sell these prints and
secondly, would we be infringing on any copyright within these drawings.
Many thanks
Tania
Re: Copyright Questions
Hi Tania,
Nice to hear from you again.
No and No. You don't need permission from anyone as the buildings are all situated where they can be photographer/sketched from a public place so that would be covered by the exception in section 62 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, presuming that copyright existed in the buildings in the first place (most old pubs wouldn't be covered by architectural copyright anyway).
And you wouldn't be infringing copyright in anything else which wasn't either a sculpture or building, for instance a pub sign where that was included in the drawing, because that would count as incidental inclusion, which is permitted by section 31.
And, of course, you would own the copyright in your finished design of the poster, as well as the individual drawings of each pub.
Nice to hear from you again.
No and No. You don't need permission from anyone as the buildings are all situated where they can be photographer/sketched from a public place so that would be covered by the exception in section 62 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988, presuming that copyright existed in the buildings in the first place (most old pubs wouldn't be covered by architectural copyright anyway).
And you wouldn't be infringing copyright in anything else which wasn't either a sculpture or building, for instance a pub sign where that was included in the drawing, because that would count as incidental inclusion, which is permitted by section 31.
And, of course, you would own the copyright in your finished design of the poster, as well as the individual drawings of each pub.
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