...A photograph of an individual in a public place is by definition not private information. What occurs in public is public...
...I'd imagine we'll be pretty safe...
Safe?
...as long as we don't accept seriously substandard photographs of celebrities, if it's similar in appearance...
Copyright infringement case law allow damages for publishing look-alike pictures, even if only in design, layout, or theme - not just outright "copies".
My challenge is who takes responsibility? Wikipedia, or the submitter, or the photographer?
...We want free photos, but we don't want free photos likely to get us into a whole heap of trouble...
Therein lies the rub.
"Getting into trouble" is not up to us, it's up to anyone who accosts us or sues us. We might prevail, or not.
"Doing the right thing" is up to us, regardless.
Monahon, Peter B. wrote:
...as long as we don't accept seriously substandard photographs of celebrities, if it's similar in appearance...
Copyright infringement case law allow damages for publishing look-alike pictures, even if only in design, layout, or theme - not just outright "copies".
What's the context for that? Surely there must be an intent to make it look like something that already exists. Two independently produced photographs that happen to look alike are not infringements.
My challenge is who takes responsibility? Wikipedia, or the submitter, or the photographer?
Clearly, the submitter. He is the one publishing the material.
Ec
On 9/29/07, Ray Saintonge saintonge@telus.net wrote:
Monahon, Peter B. wrote:
Copyright infringement case law allow damages for publishing look-alike pictures, even if only in design, layout, or theme - not just outright "copies".
What's the context for that? Surely there must be an intent to make it look like something that already exists. Two independently produced photographs that happen to look alike are not infringements.
Indeed. Copyright law is not like patent law, in which infringement does not require intent or access. You have to show that actual copying occurred, or at least that the probability of it was good. Furthermore, it would have to be of something unique to the supposedly copied work, rather than a common theme or indeed the appearance of the subject itself.
-Matt