Table of Contents for How to Use Images Legally
Layer One: Copyright Ownership of the Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Works in the Public Domain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
How to Tell If the Images Are Public Domain. . . . . .2
Two Quick Tests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
Other Public Domain Images. . . . . . . . . 3
Copyright Owners Who Gave up Their Copyright . . . . .4
Missing or Improper Copyright Notices. . . . . . . . .4
Copyright Notice Mistakes . . . . . . . . . 4
Foreign Editions or of Foreign Origin with
Missing Copyright Notice . . . . . . . 5
Published and Unpublished Works . . . . . ..5
Other Exceptions. . . . . . . . . . . . . ..7
Non-Renewed Copyright. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .8
Determining Copyright Status . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Hiring a Researcher . . . . . . . . . . . .13
Paying for a U.S. Copyright Office Search .13
Copyrighted Images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15
Who Owns a Copyright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
How Can You Use Copyrighted Images?. . . . . . . . . 15
Reproduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Modification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
Public Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Public Display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
Exceptions for Fair Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .18
Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .19
Getting Permission from Copyright Owners. . . . . . . . . . . .20
Layer One Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21
Layer Two: Possession of the Images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
The Net Result. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22
Archive Restrictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Donor Restrictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23
Penalties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24
Why Some Same Images May Be Free or Cost Hundreds of
Dollars . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Special Case: TV Shows and Films . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
Layer Two Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25
Layer Three: Ownership of the Subject. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
People. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26
Who is in the image? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Is the Person (Or His Estate) Enforcing
His Right to Publicity?. . . . . . . . 27
The President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
Is the Person a Minor, Mentally Incompetent,
or a Hospital Patient? . . . . . . .. .28
Is the Person a Trademark?. . . . . . . . 29
Where Is the Person and What Is She Doing in the
Image? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
Was the Person's Privacy Invaded? . . . . .30
What Are They Doing in the Image? . . . . .32
Places. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Aerial Images of Places. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Inside Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Inside Federal Government Buildings . . . 35
Inside State and Local Courtrooms . . . . 35
Inside Hospitals. . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
Protected Places or Items Inside a Building
or Property . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Places with Military or National Security
Restrictions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Police Scenes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Things. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Major Laws Affecting Things. . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Copyright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Property. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39
Trademark . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .40
Individual Things and the Laws Affecting Them. . . . 44
Animals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
Art Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .44
Bills of Lading . . . . . . . . . . . . . .45
Buildings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
Characters in Cartoons, Literature and
Drama . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .47
Citizenship Certificates. . . . . . . . . .48
Colors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
Currency. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .48
Music . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .49
Names, Logos, Words, Symbols and Devices. .49
Seals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
Shapes of Certain Objects . . . . . . . . .50
Speeches. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .50
Stamps. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51
Stock Footage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
Stocks and Bonds. . . . . . . . . . . . . .52
Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53
Titles of Movies, Radio and TV Shows. . . .53
Vessel Hull Designs . . . . . . . . . . . .54
Things Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
Events. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54
Layer Three Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .55
An Example of Negotiating Three Layers . . . . . . . 55
Layer Four: Use of Images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Advertising Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57
Animals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
Government Images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57
People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
Living People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .58
Celebrities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
The President, Vice President and Their
Families . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
The Flag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
Archive Use Restrictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59
Artistic Use. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
Criticism, Comment or Opinion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
Color of Use. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
Stamps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Currency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Trademarks and Trade Dress . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
Commercial Use. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .60
Animals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Government Images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
The President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .61
The Flag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Things . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Seals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Editorial Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .62
Seals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
The President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Cover Uses on Books, Magazines or Products. . . . . . . . . . .63
Defamatory, Misleading, Libelous, or Tarnishing Uses. . . . . .63
Crop Carefully . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
Trademarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Organizations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Art. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65
Distribution to Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65
Donor Use Restrictions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .65
Fair Use. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .66
Trademarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Copyright. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Fictional Uses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
First Distribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .67
Implied Endorsements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .68
Affiliations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Awards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Government Images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Seals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
Captions and Credits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68
People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
The President . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Celebrities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Trademarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Mailed Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Motion Picture, Video, TV and Slide Use . . . . . . . . . . . .69
Currency and Coins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Seals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Mutilated, Altered, Cropped or Distorted Uses . . . . . . . . .70
News Reporting. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .70
Copyright. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Seals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Non-Profit Use. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
The President and The White House. . . . . . . . . . 71
Copyrighted Items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Parody Uses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Political Uses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Printed and Photographic Use. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .71
Public Display. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
Copyrighted Items. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Seals. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
Public Performance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
Reproduction Uses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
Size of Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .72
Teaching, Scholarship, Scientific or Research Uses. . . . . . .73
Copyright. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Obscenity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
Territory of Use. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .73
U.S. Distribution. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
International Distribution . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
International Copyright . . . . . . . . . .74
Moral Rights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
Other Laws. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74
Trade Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
Transportation Uses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .75
Penalties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Layer Four Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .76
Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Appendix . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Years in Roman Numerals and Arabic Numbers. . . . . . . . . . .80
List of Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .81
List of Laws. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .83
List of Media . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .85
List of Images. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .87
List of Some People Whose Right to Publicity is Enforced. . . .90
Watch Out for Pirates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .92
Doing a Copyright Search Yourself . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .95
Exception for Maps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
Exception for Prints and Labels. . . . . . . . . . . 96
When No Registration or Renewal is Found . . . . . . 97
Mistakes May Invalidate the Copyright Registration or
Renewal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .99
Conclusion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
Smokey Bear and Woodsy Owl - Protected by Statute . . . . . . 103
Using Smokey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .103
Penalties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .104
The Crash Test Dummies - A Government-Owned Service Mark . . .105
Using the Crash Test Dummies . . . . . . . . . . . .105
Penalties. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .105
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
About the Author . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Other Books by the Author. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119
Receive Free Updates on Changes in the Law . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .121
Register by E-Mail, Fax, Mail or Phone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Links