Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York

Re: Movie Poster Artwork

Finding the copyright owner of these posters is not going to be easy but I would start by contacting the film studios that released the movies. Of course, the independent artists who created the posters may be unaffiliated with the studios. If your source of the reproductions of the posters is a book or an album, then you could also contact the publisher for the licensing information on the original rights holder. There are companies who do copyright searches for a fee as does the U.S. Copyright Office, but these searches are not exhaustive and typically do not protect a lot of legal protection.

As the previous commentator noted, I would not rely on any potential defense, such as based on first amendment or "fair use," without speaking to a media attorney. Note that trademark and other IP rights may be involved in some posters in addition to copyrights.

The above response is in the nature of general information only, is not legal advice and should not be relied on as such.

Re: Movie Poster Artwork

Based on the information below and without looking at the posters, it is very likely that you will need to obtain permission from the owner of the copyright of the movie posters as well as any trademark that may appear in those posters. Whether or not such use will constitute parody, one can not ascertain without looking at the posters. However, it is best to err on the side of caution.