Legal Question in Technology Law in California
Using an Image from a Website
My dad recently asked me to design a t-shirt for a group of people and I have been playing around with pictures on photoshop. Would it be illegal for me to use images that I got from a website without their permission?
2 Answers from Attorneys
Re: Using an Image from a Website
Photos on websites have no special legal status and are treated just like any other photos. What matters is whether they are copyrighted and not where you found them. Photos, like any other creative work, are automatically copyrighted and need not have been submitted to any government office.
Depending upon who is in the photos and how you use them, you may need the permission of the subjects -- especially if they are famous.
You should presume that the holder(s) of the copyright(s) doesn't want other people to use these photos. You should likewise presume that the people in the photos don't want their likenesses to appear on t-shirts. Get the appropriate permissions before you use the photos this way, and be sure to honor any agreements you make with them about how the photos will be used.
Re: Using an Image from a Website
Probably; most such creative work is copyrighted.
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