Copyright Question

I know copyright law is murky at best but I was curious about something: Is using an image of another signed image violation of copyright?

For example if I was Beckett, do I need permission to publish an image of a Topps card that was signed TTM from Topps or just from the owner of that specific image?

I'm not asking for any particular reason. I was looking through an Autograph magazine and wondered.

*bumps in hopes that someone will get off of a thread about Razor with an answer*

Therion said:

*bumps in hopes that someone will get off of a thread about Razor with an answer*

Click to expand...

:lol: That's funny (and sadly, true)

Anyway, my two cents... I don't believe copyright laws apply to this particular situation because neither the owner of the card/image nor the magazine own the original ideas for the card. I don't believe that adding a TTM auto to the card would fall under applying copyright ownership either.

As far as a magazine wanting to publish an image of a card that is not in their ownership, I believe it is ethical to ask permission before doing so.

wideright said:

Therion said:

*bumps in hopes that someone will get off of a thread about Razor with an answer*

Click to expand...

:lol: That's funny (and sadly, true)

Anyway, my two cents... I don't believe copyright laws apply to this particular situation because neither the owner of the card/image nor the magazine own the original ideas for the card. I don't believe that adding a TTM auto to the card would fall under applying copyright ownership either.

As far as a magazine wanting to publish an image of a card that is not in their ownership, I believe it is ethical to ask permission before doing so.

Click to expand...

Right, but do they need permission from the owner of the card or the company that produced the card?

Therion said:

wideright said:

Therion said:

*bumps in hopes that someone will get off of a thread about Razor with an answer*

Click to expand...

:lol: That's funny (and sadly, true)

Anyway, my two cents... I don't believe copyright laws apply to this particular situation because neither the owner of the card/image nor the magazine own the original ideas for the card. I don't believe that adding a TTM auto to the card would fall under applying copyright ownership either.

As far as a magazine wanting to publish an image of a card that is not in their ownership, I believe it is ethical to ask permission before doing so.

Click to expand...

Right, but do they need permission from the owner of the card or the company that produced the card?

Click to expand...

For the purposes of the magazine, the owner of the card would give permission to publish the image.

The copyright law would come into play if a designer says the card company stole the design and wants to sue or something like that.

The creator of an image generally owns the image, regardless what the image is of. Depending on the subject and specific circumstances of use, and how vigorously the image owner will defend his copyright, there is generally nothing to be said about it, especially for journalistic purposes. This is how paparazzi work, and why they are able to shoot, sell, and print pictures of famous ingenues and their hoo-has. Newspapers don't need permission from the league to print photos that show team logos. And Beckett doesn't need permission from Topps or whoever to print a picture of that company's card in the magazine. However, if they were to, say, take a scan from an ebay auction and use it in their magazine, that could be copyright infringement. The person who scanned the card should own the image and the accompanying copyright, he can put a copyright notation in the auction or in the image to say that they are reserving copyright of the image. If he didn't, then it's generally considered fair game for use by anyone. And it's the owner of the image, not necessarily the card. You scan a card for a friend, you own the image, even if he owns the card.