Use of celebrity photos

[Michaell]

Australia


I was looking a a website, www.morphthing.com, which lets you morph your face with that of a celebrity but was wondering how copyright works with the use of celebrity photos.

If the face of the celebrity if cropped out so no logos or brands are included, and the final image results in an image completely different to the original, is this allowed? Also, I assume the photos used are ones taken in public by paparazzi so I'm not sure who really "owns" the photo.

Thanks for your advice!

 

[swalsh411]

The copyright laws surrounding photographs do not change based on the subject of the picture. They may change based on who took them and in what capacity they were taken (for example, a picture distributed by the US government is generally considered public domain) but it doesn't matter what's in the picture.