Professional photographs of tourists in front of copyrighted landmarks

[Musicguy777]

Is it possible in the United States to professionally take pictures of tourists in front of landmark buildings and signs for commercial use? I understand, most of them are copyrighted, for example the Hollywood sign. However, if the Holywood sign is in the background of the photograph and the main topic of the picture is a person, does that make it legal for the Hollywood sign to be pictured in the photograph and the picture being sold without permission of the owner of the copyright? I want to start a photo company and place photographers in front of public tourist attractions like the "Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas" sign or the "Southernmost Point" boie in Key West and offer tourists to have their pictures taken professionally. Would this be possible, if the tourists are the center of the picture and the possibly protected building or landmark can be seen in the back?
Please no speculating. Only answer, if you really KNOW the legal facts. Thanks for your advice!

 

[xylene]

You are pondering a business with at least several employees or contractors.

You need a lawyer involved.

 

[FlyingRon]

The Hollywood sign is NOT copyrighted. The chamber of commerce has a trademark on using the sign as such. As long as you're only shooting for customers rather than using the sign to market your services, you should be OK there. A similar trademark applies to the Fabulous Las Vegas sign. The Southernmost Point Buoy (which by the way isn't the southernmost point, but it is close) doesn't seem to have any such protections.

You have bigger issues than trademark/copyright, in my opinion. You just can't set up your photography business on the streets in front of these landmarks in many cases. You're also talking about a lot of disparate locations that are going to have differing laws on conducting the business.

 

[quincy]

Is it possible in the United States to professionally take pictures of tourists in front of landmark buildings and signs for commercial use? I understand, most of them are copyrighted, for example the Hollywood sign. However, if the Holywood sign is in the background of the photograph and the main topic of the picture is a person, does that make it legal for the Hollywood sign to be pictured in the photograph and the picture being sold without permission of the owner of the copyright? I want to start a photo company and place photographers in front of public tourist attractions like the "Welcome to fabulous Las Vegas" sign or the "Southernmost Point" boie in Key West and offer tourists to have their pictures taken professionally. Would this be possible, if the tourists are the center of the picture and the possibly protected building or landmark can be seen in the back?
Please no speculating. Only answer, if you really KNOW the legal facts. Thanks for your advice!

You will need permits from the cities involved to conduct your business on city property and you will need permission from property owners to conduct your business on private property.

Any photos you take of tourists who are willing to pay for your services cannot be used commercially for any other purpose than to sell the photos to the tourists who purchase them. In other words, you cannot use the photos to promote your photography business without first obtaining a release from those pictured, releasing your subjects' personality/publicity rights to you to do so.

All releases should be drafted carefully to protect your rights and the rights of those who will be taking advantage of your service.

In this day of selfie-sticks, I am afraid you might have difficulty sustaining a profitable business. You should discuss your plans with a business professional in your area before you invest too much time, energy and money into your venture.

As to intellectual property, it will be the use of trademarks more than copyrights that can lead to issues - although photographing public places from a public vantage point in the manner you propose should not be a major concern.