copy/copyright question

[thecatspajamas]

Originally Posted by timzcardz

Maybe not such an easy answer.

There are some online photo hosting/album sites that by the accepting the site's terms of use the user gives up that right and it may be actually public domain.

Typically, when those sites have fine print requiring the giving up of rights to photos, it's giving up the rights to the operators of those sites. I would be very surprised to see a Terms of Service agreement that put every photo posted to the site into Public Domain.

You also have to consider the source of the photos and whether the poster actually had rights to the image in the first place. They can't (legally) give permission to use a photo that they never (legally) had the rights to. So if it's a vintage snapshot or polaroid, they may very well hold the copyright by default. If it's a news photo or a photo clearly taken by someone else, they probably don't hold the copyright. If it's the latter, even if they give you permission to print the photo, I would make sure they know what they're talking about. Many people are either completely ignorant of copyright laws, or flippant when it's not their rear on the line, or both.

I do a fair amount of selling vintage photos on eBay, and have had the question posed to me on numerous occasions: "If I buy this photo from you, can I use it in my book?" or some variation thereof. My answer is always, "I can't give you permission to do that because I don't have the copyright on the image. I'm just selling a physical print of the image, but transferring ownership of the physical print does not constitute a transferring of rights. I can't/won't stop you from doing whatever you're going to do with the photo, but I also won't come to your defence if it gets you in trouble." In some cases, I may be able to provide additional information that would help them track down the rights owner, but even if I have the original negatives, if I did not take the photo, I don't have the rights to transfer in the first place.

I don't mean to sound like an expert, as I certainly am not. I do know that it's not as simple as "if I see it on the internet, I can use it for free without asking" though. There are many other factors to be considered, including date the photo was taken, how you're using it, who is in the photo, if/which sports team logos are in the photo, etc. The reality may be that, if you re-print the photo, the copyright holder will never see it or raise a fuss, but you asked if you could legally use the photo. So my answer would be that no, legally you cannot print it in your book, at least not without at least getting the poster's permission, and quite possibly jumping through a convoluted series of hoops after that.