Legal Question in Intellectual Property in New York
Use of photos on the web for e-zines
HI, I am interested in starting an online magazine focusing on pop culture. I've noticed that a lot of published magazines with teen celebrities as the focus use the same photos. These are photos that I've also seen on all sorts of websites. In these magazine's disclaimers they say some content publicly available. What does this mean? How do I knwo what is and isn't publicly available for this use? and how will I know if I can use a photo for my online magazine without violating any laws. I've noticed that in these magazines they all use the same photos and rarely credit a photographer. How are they able to do this? I've done some research on fair use and public domain laws regarding the internet, but have been unsuccessfully in answer my question. Thank you for your time.
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: Use of photos on the web for e-zines
By default, the author of a work owns the copyright. If the author is an employee working within the scope of their employment, then the employer is the "author."
Freelance photographers (the probable "authors" in this case) very often license their photos to more than one licensee. This is why you will see the same photos in many places.
You should clear the copyrights to all the works you intend to use. This entails tracking down the "author" (or their agent) and obtaining a license to use the work. Just becuase you see a work on the Internet does not mean that it is in the public domain.
You should engage counsel to help you through this. A misunderstanding of copyright law could result in legal problems later.
Good luck.
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