legality of images

[phrostee]

Hey-
i was just wondering what the law (in the US) says about posting other people's images. for example, i have a picture of a friend from school and i want to put it up on my website. is there anything illegal with this? do i need his consent in some way (of course ill talk to him before this, but this situation is theoretical)? basically, what are the laws concerning this matter? and is there anyway i could get in legal trouble over this? any info would be great :)

[havik]

There's a pretty simple rule when it comes to the net. If you didn't write it, and you want to reproduce it, ask the creator.

check out this link:
http://www.sitepoint.com/print/628

Havik

[phrostee]

ok, more specifically, here's an addition to the scenario:

"Friend A" takes a picture of "Friend B." "Friend A" then gives me the picture and says i can put it up, even as to say he wants me to put it up (not derogatory in any way). can i put it up with only "Friend A's" approval? "Friend A" is the owner of the picture, correct? and therefore i have full legal permission to put up the picture?

and thanks for that site, it cleared up a few other questions i had too :)

[havik]

Well, that's up to the judge and jury :D

Seriously though, what if Friend B consented to the photo on the grounds that no one else will view it or it won't be reproduced? Friend A should be in the wrong for letting you have it, but you shouldn't because you were unaware of that. (These are just my opinions).

It all depends on the situation. What if Friend B was a model? Then Friend A must have consent to distribute the pictures as they please.

What if Friend B was a movie star (lets say Catherine Zeta-Jones) and Friend A was paparazzi. Well, if you follow this sort of thing, Zeta-Jones is suing over pictures taken of her while she was pregant. Off topic a bit but its valid here :D

So it all depends, but to be safe, get consent from everyone involved.

Havik

[phrostee]

Originally posted by havik
It all depends on the situation.
ok so this should wrap it up. in this particular situation, all 3 of us are basically nobodies (in the sense that nobody aside from friends and family knows us outside of our city). would you say it's safe to put up "Friend A's" picture? then i'm assuming that if "Friend A" asks to have the picture taken down, i have to listen, correct?

thanks for the help :)

[Charles]

There's yet another aspect of the law that you need to take into account. Given that you are in the US:

Title I : If you employ 15 or more persons that might need access to the site with the images.

or

Title II : If you are a federal, state or local governmental agency.

or

Title III : Your page is a part of a public accommodation. This would include any kind of commercial interest but exclude private clubs and religious institutions.

Then the US Department of Justice believes that the Americans With Disabilities Act Applies to you. Your page will need to be accessible and you will have to properly use the 'alt' attribute. Even if your product is pictures of naked people, someone blind might want to purchase some of those pictures for a friend.

References:

The ADA Itself
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/ada/pubs/ada.txt

The US DOJ Opinion
http://www.usdoj.gov/crt/foia/tal712.txt

The Federal Guidelines
http://www.access-board.gov/sec508/guide/1194.22.htm

The WAI Guidelines
http://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG10/

And a Wealth of Information can be found at:
http://www.icdri.org/CynthiaW/cynthia_waddell.htm

[AdamGundry]

Charles is correct, if in the US you may need to follow the ADA (and if outside it, like me, you should anyway).

As far as I can tell from your information, you should be fine putting the images on your site. Ownership of a photograph goes to the person taking the photograph, not the subject, unless there is some kind of legal contract in place. Thus "Friend A" can authorise you to use the photograph without "Friend B"'s consent.

Of course, asking the subject is always a good idea.

Adam

P.S. Remember, this is only my interpretation of the legal situation. I'm a web developer, not a lawyer.

P.P.S. The Zeta-Jones case is different because there was a legal contract already in place, and the photographs were taken surreptitously.

[havik]

Ah, clarity, gotta love it :D

Havik

[phrostee]

sounds good to me, thanks for the help guys :)