ADVICE: Using Celebrity Pictures to Sell Products w/o Permission
On a side note, I'd like to add that if Jesus Christ ever turned out ot be a real person and people using Jesus Christ's likeness to promote products he doesn't endorse, Jesus Christ could sue them.
All the people who are using the name of Jesus Christ to promote Anti-Gay or Anti-Lesbian Propaganda if Jesus Christ is for Gay and Lesbian Rights would be in trouble.
Same with the Vatican. They'd be in trouble as well for preaching what people should or shouldn't believe.
QUESTION:
Legal help please...??
If I go to an NFL game and I take a picture of an NFL superstar ex: Michael Vick, can I use that same picture to sell products such as shirts or jackets?
REPLY:
No.
What if someone took a picture of Julia Roberts and used the pictures on KKK Propaganda and T-Shirts?
It would be sending the message that Julia Roberts is a White Supremacist and Anti-Semitic. If you haven't obtained the written consent of the Celebrity, you can't use their pictures or likeness to endorse products they haven't approved.
People who attempt to do that would be exploiting the fame of the Celebrity for their own personal gain, which may not always be in the best interest of the Celebrity or even embrace ideals congruent to that of the Celebrity.
Even with Companies, people aren't allowed to take a Company Logo and advertise themselves as being affiliated with that Company without permission.
It would be easy to go around and claim your Computer Software Program is affiliated with Microsoft, Sun Systems, Dell, or Gateway, but if you haven't obtained their permission, they could sue.
The reason why it's set up that way is because someone could abuse the Company's name and make it look like the Company is endorsing products or services that it has no knowledge of or could even be bad.
That's why you see photos in the media where they'll fuzz out the faces of people in the video whose written consent they haven't obtained for usage of their likeness. It's to avoid legal entanglements when they blur the faces of people who are walking by in a camera.shot.
All the people who are using the name of Jesus Christ to promote Anti-Gay or Anti-Lesbian Propaganda if Jesus Christ is for Gay and Lesbian Rights would be in trouble.
Same with the Vatican. They'd be in trouble as well for preaching what people should or shouldn't believe.
QUESTION:
Legal help please...??
If I go to an NFL game and I take a picture of an NFL superstar ex: Michael Vick, can I use that same picture to sell products such as shirts or jackets?
REPLY:
No.
What if someone took a picture of Julia Roberts and used the pictures on KKK Propaganda and T-Shirts?
It would be sending the message that Julia Roberts is a White Supremacist and Anti-Semitic. If you haven't obtained the written consent of the Celebrity, you can't use their pictures or likeness to endorse products they haven't approved.
People who attempt to do that would be exploiting the fame of the Celebrity for their own personal gain, which may not always be in the best interest of the Celebrity or even embrace ideals congruent to that of the Celebrity.
Even with Companies, people aren't allowed to take a Company Logo and advertise themselves as being affiliated with that Company without permission.
It would be easy to go around and claim your Computer Software Program is affiliated with Microsoft, Sun Systems, Dell, or Gateway, but if you haven't obtained their permission, they could sue.
The reason why it's set up that way is because someone could abuse the Company's name and make it look like the Company is endorsing products or services that it has no knowledge of or could even be bad.
That's why you see photos in the media where they'll fuzz out the faces of people in the video whose written consent they haven't obtained for usage of their likeness. It's to avoid legal entanglements when they blur the faces of people who are walking by in a camera.shot.