Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York

Re: Copyright

Regardless of what you charge your web design fees for, you have to have the consent of the celebrity whose image you are using. If the celebrity is not living, it may be somewhat different, but generally the use of a public figure's likeness without permission is actionable as an infringement of the right of publicity and, possibly, privacy.

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

Re: Copyright

I agree with my colleague but would add the caveat that even dead celebrities can rise from the grave to bite you on the butt.

Re: Copyright

These guys are right, you can't cover yourself that way. If you can find a way to do it, you might produce the set with a way for the customer to drop in a celebrity. But you can't prepare the drop in; you'd have to make it so the customer can do it with an image they find on their own. That is the closest you can come to doing what you want, and even then someone might sue you for facilitating the customers' actions resulting in copyright infringement. So make sure you inform the customer in writing that they must get permission from the proper party if they wish to drop in a celebrity. My firm is focused on Internet, media and entertainment law. By the way, my company at TROANN.com is looking for web designers/webmasters to certify for reliability and list on the site, if you or someone you know is interested.