Legal Question in Intellectual Property in Pennsylvania

Ask Permission... Copying is a violation

The image belongs to someone, either the person who owns the web page, or they have licensed it from the true owner. If you copy it without permission, you are violating the Federal Copyright laws, unless the image is already in the "public domain". The rules for figuring out when something is in the public domain can be complex, but in general, if something is an antique and very, very old, it is likely that it is available to everyone.

Even if the thing depicted was in the "public domain", the image on the internet could be protected (just like a photo you take of something that is very old). You cannot be sure that the image you take is not protected by a digital "watermark". Many companies are now protecting their images with digital watermarks, which are not visible to the naked eye, but which can be extracted from the image with special software, and when this is the case, copying is almost always established.

Some images on the web are from catalogs of images that are produced royalty free (some of the collections of photos and art that come on CD ROMs, for example). To use these, you would need to have purchased the CD product, and then you could use the images as set forth in the CD ROM license agreement.

This message is provided to assist you in structuring your thoughts when you speak with an attorney about your situation. I am not your attorney, and you are not my client, so this is not legal advice. Legal advice can only be given after a careful interview of the client by the attorney, and I have not had the opportunity to understand the significant issues that I must understand to render legal advice. You should contact an attorney in your state to discuss your situation. That attorney can give you the advice that your situation deserves, after carefully considering the issues that are legally significant in your situation.