Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Michigan

Can I legally download pictures of 'art' from art websites, print them out with my printer, then have these enlarged by a photo service for my personal home use? I now have several 4" X 6" pictures that I have printed out myself on photo paper. None of them contain "watermarks" that I can see. I can't recall where on the web I found most of them. In order to have them enlarged at my local photo processing business, will I have to provide copyright information before they will enlarge them? Again, these are strictly for use in my home.


Asked on 2/29/12, 9:44 am

1 Answer from Attorneys
Clifford Hyra Hyra IP, PLC

No. Just printing out the picture is copyright infringement, regardless of whether they have watermarks, where you found them, or what you use them for (unless the artist disclaimed any copyrights to them, which is highly unlikely). Your local photo processing business may very well require some evidence of your copyrights, because they do not want to commit copyright infringement (and enlarging them would be copyright infringement).

Read more
Answered on 2/29/12, 11:02 am


Related Questions & Answers

More Intellectual Property questions and answers in Michigan