Posting a celebrity photo on a fanpage

[JacekS]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Delaware

Hi,

We would like to post several photos of celebrities on our facebook fanpage with a quote they said. I think that I'm allowed to post a photo of a celebrity, which I took myself (as they are public figures), but my concern are photographers' rights.

The purpose of this is to comment on what a celebrity said in order to raise awareness of our charity action. We want to quote them to show our casue is right.

Is there any way to use a celebrity photo (Right to quote)? I think there are no free photos of them available (only those quite expensive), but maybe it's possible to take a frame from a tv show, or interview where they said the quote.

The thing is we don't want to steal someone's photo - we just want to quote a celebrity.

Thanks,
Jack

 

[FlyingRon]

You should be concerned. What you propose to do is definitely infringing. You need a license from the person who took the photograph (or whomever they assigned their rights to). The lack of free stuff isn't excuse to steal.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Delaware

Hi,

We would like to post several photos of celebrities on our facebook fanpage with a quote they said. I think that I'm allowed to post a photo of a celebrity, which I took myself (as they are public figures), but my concern are photographers' rights.

The purpose of this is to comment on what a celebrity said in order to raise awareness of our charity action. We want to quote them to show our casue is right.

Is there any way to use a celebrity photo (Right to quote)? I think there are no free photos of them available (only those quite expensive), but maybe it's possible to take a frame from a tv show, or interview where they said the quote.

The thing is we don't want to steal someone's photo - we just want to quote a celebrity.

Thanks,
Jack

There are several problems with what you want to do.

A photographer generally holds the copyrights in the photos s/he takes so permission needs to be granted by the photographer before a photo can be used. Many photographers are staff photographers for magazines or news organizations so the rights to the photos belong to their employers. For use of these photos, you need to acquire a license from the employing agency.

The words of the celebrity, if taken from an interview the celebrity had with a publication, can also be copyright protected. You would need permission from the author/publisher to use the words.

And permission to use another's photograph and to use the words taken from a publication are not all of the permissions you need. You also need permission from the celebrity or celebrities to use their images and their words to promote your charity. Celebrity endorsements can come with a hefty price tag. You cannot use the celebrity in connection with your charity without the celebrity's permission and generally by paying for the use.

You CAN take your own photos to avoid the copyright issue in photographs and you CAN use direct quotes from what you hear a celebrity say when the quote is not taken out of context. But for any promotion of your charity, you cannot get around the publicity rights of the celebrity - the right of the celebrity to control how their name or image is used commercially.

You can speak to an IP attorney in your area and/or you can try to personally connect with a celebrity to get them interested enough in your charity for them to want to offer their star power to your cause.

Good luck.

 

[JacekS]

Thanks quincy for your detailed answer.

I understand that celebrity endorsements to promote a business is an expensive thing to get. However, we do not want to write "Mr X said our charity is great!". We rather write "Mr X said - 'pollution is bad' what do you think about it?". It's like any of the blogs on the Internet like '10 reasons to hate Mr X', or articles about celebrities commenting what they said, what they did, why to like them, why to hate them etc. Is quoting and commenting, not actually promoting, I believe.

Am I not allowed to quote a phrase from a TV show saying who said it and where? I'm talking about 'article 10: "It shall be permissible to make quotations ... provided that their making is compatible with fair practice, and their extent does not exceed that justified by the purpose".' (it may be wrong and related to Europe, I just copied it, but this is what I need).

So to sum up, please tell me if those claims are wrong:

1. I can use a quote from TV, because I have a right to quote if it's in a resonable limit, clearly marked as quotations, I provide a source and it has a purpose, for example, a parody.
2. I can take a photo of a celebrity and place it on the internet - not as a way of promoting a business, but just as a fact, for example, 'Mr X was sitting here today.'

Sorry for trying to find a way around, but I think we are doing a good thing and this is not promoting the business - it's more rasing awareness to a certain cause.

 

[quincy]

Thanks quincy for your detailed answer.

I understand that celebrity endorsements to promote a business is an expensive thing to get. However, we do not want to write "Mr X said our charity is great!". We rather write "Mr X said - 'pollution is bad' what do you think about it?". It's like any of the blogs on the Internet like '10 reasons to hate Mr X', or articles about celebrities commenting what they said, what they did, why to like them, why to hate them etc. Is quoting and commenting, not actually promoting, I believe.

Am I not allowed to quote a phrase from a TV show saying who said it and where? I'm talking about 'article 10: "It shall be permissible to make quotations ... provided that their making is compatible with fair practice, and their extent does not exceed that justified by the purpose".' (it may be wrong and related to Europe, I just copied it, but this is what I need).

So to sum up, please tell me if those claims are wrong:

1. I can use a quote from TV, because I have a right to quote if it's in a resonable limit, clearly marked as quotations, I provide a source and it has a purpose, for example, a parody.
2. I can take a photo of a celebrity and place it on the internet - not as a way of promoting a business, but just as a fact, for example, 'Mr X was sitting here today.'

Sorry for trying to find a way around, but I think we are doing a good thing and this is not promoting the business - it's more rasing awareness to a certain cause.

You were not quoting from the US Copyright Act. The US has a "fair use doctrine," however, that permits some uses of copyrighted material without authorization from the copyright holder. Fair use is not permission to use copyrighted material. Fair use is an affirmative defense to infringement - a "yes I infringed but it is okay" defense.

There are fair use guidelines only so, if a copyright holder objects to another's use of his copyrighted material and sues, a court will ultimately need to decide if a fair use defense defeats the copyright holder's claim.

As to quotes and photos, you cannot use the words and images of others (celebrity or not) to imply that which is not true. For example, you cannot take a photo of Taylor Swift and place it on your website devoted to saving Hostess Ding Dongs if the placement of the photo implies Taylor Swift supports your cause.

You can review your plans with an attorney in your area to better ensure you do not run into problems with infringement.

Good luck.

 

[JacekS]

I understand, thank you a lot for explaining all of that.

 

[quincy]

I understand, thank you a lot for explaining all of that.

You're welcome, JacekS. Thanks for the thanks.

Good success with your charity.