----- Original Message -----
From: "Godfrey DiGiorgi"
Subject: Re: copyrights
Again, I am no lawyer and have little to gain from pursuing a specific
opinion on this matter. I'm interested in that I'm showing and selling
photographs that contain people, as do many other street photographers
who publish their work. I know that the vast majority of that work is
sold without releases for the people in the pictures.
So here's a situation that comes straight home to me. My current exhibit
(on display until April 16, btw, if you are local and want to go see
it...) has several pictures of people in it. The pictures are, in
essence, about them and the city I photographed, Ramsey on the Isle of
Man. I have no model releases for any of these photographs. They were
intended to be used for display and sale, editorially and as art but not
in advertising.
The Isle of Man Examiner, when informed of my show, did a feature article
on my show (see http://www.gdgphoto.com/ramsey/yank/) and chose a couple
of the photos to present in the article. They never asked me for
releases, never went to the people in the photo for releases to the best
of my knowledge. I will assume that they know what they're doing with
regard to liability and releases.
How does this differ from me taking the same photograph(s) and making
them into T-shirts for sale to those that like them?
I presume the Isle of Man Examiner is a newspaper? If so, they have an
editorial license, something that you don't have, from your description.
William Robb