YOU NEED TO BE EDUCATED ON U.S. COPYRIGHT LAWS
General Copyright Laws
A copyright is the exclusive right granted to "authors"
under the U.S. Copyright Act to copy, adapt, distribute, publicly
perform, and publicly display their works of authorship, such
as literary works, databases, musical works, sound recordings,
photographs, and other still images, and motion pictures and other
audiovisual works.
A derivative work is described in the Copyright Act as "a
work based upon one or more pre-existing works," such as
a translation, musical arrangement, dramatization, fictionalization,
motion picture version, sound recording, art reproduction, abridgment,
condensation, or any other form in which a work may be recast,
transformed or adapted.
For Photography
Right to Privacy
During our lifetimes, most people think we should have the right
to keep other people out of our way. This "right to privacy"
was not specifically granted in the constitution. As a result,
each state has written its own right to privacy laws. In general,
these laws say that no one can use your image without getting
a "model release" from you. In many states, you can
also prevent someone making an image of your property without
getting a "property release." The most important exception
to this right is the right to free speech that is part of the
First Amendment to the Constitution. This "fair use"
doctrine says you or I may use another person's copyrighted work
as an example or illustration, in political or education discussions.
I can refer to and quote from Dr. Martin Luther King's "I
Have a Dream" speech without paying a royalty to his estate.
However, I cannot "perform" his speech for money or
use phrases from it in an advertisement or commercial, without
permission and a license agreement. In general, the "Fair
Use" exception does not make it easier to license still images,
because it is almost impossible to make an "excerpt"
from an image that does not infringe on the whole.
Famous people create a value in their name and appearance that
is part of what they leave behind when they die. They have a right
to control this value during their life -- that is why people
pay celebrities so much for their "endorsements." State
courts have generally ruled that the estates of famous people
also have the right to control publicity about them after they
die.
Right to Publicity
Learn about our motion picture credits.