A McMechen man whose mugshot won a measure of Internet fame is planning to sue companies he says are profiting from the image. Patrick Tribett was arrested in Bellaire, Ohio, in 2005. Police say he had been huffing the fumes from gold spraypaint, and the lower half of his face was golden in his mugshot.
New Martinsville lawyer H. John Rogers says the image has appeared on T-shirts, coffee mugs and even a billboard in Europe. Rogers says he’s preparing lawsuits against four companies for using Tribett’s image for financial gain.
Chuckle. Why would you need to photoshop this clown?
#15,
Copyright law applies to the owner of the work. If you create something, you own it. Since you created your own identifiable features, you own your own likeness.
If I am in public you may photograph me, but you may not profit off of that photograph. The exception is when the photograph is used for a news story. Thus, celebrities have less control over their likeness than ordinary people.
In this case the police may release the “mug shot”. News outlets may reprint that picture, without permission, whenever they run an article about this man or a similar subject that he was arrested for. This is part of fair use.
Those seeking commercial gain, such as printing his face on T-shirts, need his permission as that is profiting from his likeness. This would be a copyright violation.
While satire can be a profitable fair use, this is not satire. Satire may not use the same image, it must create its own image.
#10 eCa – dOeS NoT fAlL iNtO aNy Of ThEsE.
progressive who has run out of weed money
22,
NO ONE has the right to profit OFF of your likeness..
the Key word is PROFIT.
You can not profit off of a Public display.
Thats how an advertiser can use Background people, FREE. its not for PROFIT, is the thinking.
If something has been released to the Public domain, it can be published, BUT not for profit.
You cant REPRODUCE something from a news paper, on a SHIRT, for PROFIT. ask the AP.
read #21. he is right, and so am I.
Gosh, even Republican Tom Delay doesn’t wear that much glitter to a dance contest.
Every time I see his picture I laugh. Here’s to you Tribett.