Ive been noticing a lot lately that people have been using the faces of many famous people with disregard to copyright infringement. Although everyone of these t-shirts has the famous person's eyes covered, either with a bar a pair of glasses. Is this ok to do, will covering the eyes protect you from infringement?
I'm not a lawyer but I would say no. and I don't think the issue is copyright, I think it's something called "rights of publicity" (i.e. the right to control your own image). the reason they put a black bar over someone's eyes in the "Glamour Don't" section of Glamour magazine is to obscure the identity of the person. If you take a picture of Angelina Jolie and you put a black bar over her eyes, but those full lips, and giant boobs, slicked back hair leave her readily identifiable I don't think you've really dodged the "rights of publicity" issue. and if your point is to use their image so people know who it is, then you'll never obscure them enough "legally". why do people do it? Because everybody loves a rebel.
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Pretty risky. It all depends on the individual in question actually. I believe there is a rule regarding using politicians or public officials in media, but it's best to consult with an attorney in this case.
there r sites that u can buy famous people transfers from that I think give u a licence to print them i know they r in a different sec to the normal prints i'll look it up and post again.
ok just looked the site up and it was under Licensed Designs and say that "all designs are officially licensed they cost more then the others naturally but it may be similar to what u r seeing they may have paid a license fee when they bought the print ?? just a thought
Last edited by deniseg; February 1st, 2008 at 04:24 PM.
I'm not a lawyer but I would say no. and I don't think the issue is copyright, I think it's something called "rights of publicity" (i.e. the right to control your own image).
Right. And "right of publicity" varies from state to state. And "reporting" on a "news" item (even in the worst tabloid sort of way) is very different from putting someone's image on a T-shirt so that you can profit by selling their image.
There could also be copyright issues, though, unless it's a picture you have taken yourself, or have licensed.
Quote:
Originally Posted by LadyFingers
the reason they put a black bar over someone's eyes in the "Glamour Don't" section of Glamour magazine is to obscure the identity of the person. If you take a picture of Angelina Jolie and you put a black bar over her eyes, but those full lips, and giant boobs, slicked back hair leave her readily identifiable I don't think you've really dodged the "rights of publicity" issue. and if your point is to use their image so people know who it is, then you'll never obscure them enough "legally". why do people do it? Because everybody loves a rebel.
Yep. I think that the black bars have more to do with marketing than anything else. They build intrigue. They make you think you are seeing something that is somehow forbidden. They make people clever that they can figure out who the person is, even when, as you noted, it is quite obvious.
copyright question about covering eyes 
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