Legal Question in Business Law in California

Re: photos and copyright laws

You must get permission from the owner of each copyrighted image you use, which will probably mean you will have to pay each of them. If you don't, each will be able to sue you.

Your biggest problem may lie outside of copyright law, though. Celebrities have the right to control the use of their likenesses. If you try to make money off of the likeness of a celebrity who has not agreed to let you do so, he or she will also be able to sue you. Thus, you will need to get the appoval of each of these celebrities beforehand, and will likely have to pay those who are willing to go along with your plan.

Note that these distinct issues will usually apply to each image. In otherwords, you will have to get approval both from the owner of an image's copyright *and* from the celebrity or celebrities it depicts. Neither type of approval includes the other.

Good luck.