Legal Question in Business Law in Ohio

Re: Crafts & Copyright

Photographs are not subject to copyright laws to my knowledge , since they are not unique once copied. I believe that you can reproduce and sell these to whoever you want.

However, you may be subject to other laws relating to the invasion of privacy if the photographs were taken of celebrity outside of the public

Re: Crafts & Copyright

Actually, photographs, *are* covered by copyright. There are two basic issues. First, the copyright of the photographer, and second, the rights of the person photographed.

In general, the "first sale" doctrine will *probably* make your crafts safe from challenge by the photographer. So long as you are purchasing the photographs in a legitimate transaction where the photographer receives the payment to which he or she is entitled, you are *generally* free to re-use and re-sell the copyrighted work without additional charge. However, if you are making copies of the photographs yourself, all bets are off.

As to the image of the person photographed, in Ohio every person has a right to privacy as to the use of their image, especially for commercial purposes. This may be troublesome for you. Even though you have paid the photographer for his or her copyright, the person in the photograph still has some legal rights that you may need to deal with. As an absurd example, I rather doubt that you would want your photograph to appear on the package for a "marital aid"... Likewise, the person in the photograph may not want to appear in an ashtray, coffee mug, flower pot, etc. Indeed, the person may be entitled to payment for the commercial use of their image.

I know this is not conclusory, but this is a rather complicated area. I'd check into this a bit deeper before I started selling the crafts as part of a commercial venture.