The copyright issues discussed this week is a great reminder of another important component of our media projects – permission to use the images of a person in our projects. I remember hearing in New York about a woman who saw her picture on a calendar featuring events held in New York City throughout the year. The West Indian Festival is held every Labor Day in Brooklyn. Apparently, that is where the photographer captured this woman in a photo that was featured in his calendar the following year. The person who told me about this said the woman was going to sue but I do not remember hearing anything else about it. The real question: What IS the law about this?
The case of Russell Christoff v. Nestle USA, Inc. brings some clarity to this issue. He is that guy whose picture appeared on the Taster’s Choice coffee jar for over 16 years without his knowledge. (Obviously, he was not a coffee drinker). Someone he knew pointed out that the person on the jar looked like him. Well, it did turn out to be him on the Taster's Choice jar. Although he did sign a release and was paid $250 for a singe-use publication, the law became very blurry regarding the real definition of “single-use.” In the first ruling he was awarded $15 million, which was reversed later in an appeal trial.
As Action Researchers, I think we need to know about this as well. Here are the websites:
http://www.morelaw.com/verdicts/case.asp?n=S155242&s=CA&d=41048
Photo: "Fair Use" for educational purposes only.
Photo: "Fair Use" for educational purposes only.
I had heard of this story but thank you for sharing the details. It was fun to read.
ReplyDeleteWow, thanks for the resource. I'll add them to my list. The guy that sang the "Yahoo!" used in all Yahoo ads made a similar one-time usage agreement. Later he brought a suit and I think won, but who knows whether he ever saw any additional money after that. Ack. So, the lesson for content creators is to have really good lawyers going in.
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