Selling Le Mans photos / using them in my portfolio

[Mr. S]

I'd like to sell the photos I took but I'm not sure if that's legal since I didn't have a media permit. If not, could I still use them in my portfolio if it's used to advertise paid services? I.e. on the website I have set up for my business.

I'm a bit lost about this.

 

[MatskiMonk]

I'd like to sell the photos I took but I'm not sure if that's legal since I didn't have a media permit. If not, could I still use them in my portfolio if it's used to advertise paid services? I.e. on the website I have set up for my business.

I'm a bit lost about this.

Check the back of your ticket...

Most tickets will look like this (from Blancpain at Brands Hatch) - notice the bit in yellow. It's pretty standard in the T & C's, it protects professionals livelihoods.

Realistically, selling them is a no no, but you'd have to get caught doing it. It appears to me some photo's were taken through a fence, this would normally be a giveaway.

As for your portfolio, probably a grey area. I'd imagine posting that those specific images were not for resale might be enough... at the end of the day, somebody would have to report you to the rights holder... what are the chances of that!


edit: Good photo's by the way 👍

 

[Ibonibo]

^What he said.

Plus what is written on weavers and ticks and the like isn't necessarily the law. I can't think of a car blogger being sued for using track pictures. Plus it's public events, and places for press are sometimes quite limited. So a small time blogger will always be left out. Could be discrimination as all press demands should be treated the same which is not how it is handled.
Plus photography falls under art, which again can be quite liberal for the artist, so in your favor.
I seen big companies take photos of sites without asking, I seen photographers do it. It rarely comes down to something other than a settlement calculated on the revenue of the picture taken.

I go by 2 mantras:
- Don't use photos that are completely and obviously illegal ( bland copys and the like).
- The rest I post, if someone has a problem, he can contact me and I take it down.

If you take a picture of the Eiffel Tower, do you go and ask every pedestrian before taking the picture if he is okay with it...? A lot of us disregard that "privacy" law continously, even posting street shots on the web.
Is that a problem?

Strictly speaking yes. But who cares. as long as people have a possibilitly to complain, I don't see a problem if you act only after a complaint.

Same as for google, youtube, street view,...

As you see, lot's of different laws at play, quite a grey area legal wise. Someone would need to go through all the instances in order to know how it would be handled in the worst case scenario. And that would differ country from country....

I say, go for it, and in case of complaint, remove them.

 

[Mr. S]

Thanks guys! I had checked the back of the ticket already, it merely says I can be searched, I can't bring weapons etc. - I just cannot afford a lawsuit right now...so yeah, I removed it from my portfolio and replaced it with something else.

Regarding the Eiffel Tower: it's in public space, so I don't have to. Yet, if the tower is lit up (at night) it is copyrighted. The light sequence is copyrighted, I kid you not. That's why I cannot put it into my portfolio either.

 

[terminator363]

Regarding the Eiffel Tower: it's in public space, so I don't have to. Yet, if the tower is lit up (at night) it is copyrighted. The light sequence is copyrighted, I kid you not. That's why I cannot put it into my portfolio either.

I learned something tonight

 

[Carlos]

Thanks guys! I had checked the back of the ticket already, it merely says I can be searched, I can't bring weapons etc. - I just cannot afford a lawsuit right now...so yeah, I removed it from my portfolio and replaced it with something else.

Regarding the Eiffel Tower: it's in public space, so I don't have to. Yet, if the tower is lit up (at night) it is copyrighted. The light sequence is copyrighted, I kid you not. That's why I cannot put it into my portfolio either.

Wow that's crazy! And what if I take photos of people in front of the tower, then let them pay for that? I could sell it as a portrait.. Or lets say, it's accidentally in the picture..

 

[Mr. S]

Wow that's crazy! And what if I take photos of people in front of the tower, then let them pay for that? I could sell it as a portrait.. Or lets say, it's accidentally in the picture..

You cannot make money off of it. If it's for private use they don't mind, from what I read.

I.e. you take a photo of your family with the Tower lit up in the background and put it on Flickr: fine. You take a photo of your family with the Tower lit up in the background and put it on a stock website: not fine.

 

[Pupik]

Interesting...American copyright law means you can re-distribute your own non-derivative works, including those photographs taken during a public event (i.e. Sporting event, motor race, et al).

The only restrictions may be upon whether you've entered into a contract, as a photographer, whereby someone who requests the photos in the first place (likely the one paying you to take them), might have a sort of "no compete clause" to prevent you from making an additional sale on your work. However, that's individual contract law, not copyright law.

Regarding the Eiffel Tower: it's in public space, so I don't have to. Yet, if the tower is lit up (at night) it is copyrighted. The light sequence is copyrighted, I kid you not. That's why I cannot put it into my portfolio either.

Does France have a "Freedom of Panorama" law? (Edit: France does not permit Freedom of Panorama.)

This basically prevents photography in a public space of publicly visible items (thus, not necessarily a person's identity or modeling rights) from suing you over redistribution of images that may contain buildings, vehicles, advertising, and other phenomena which have individual patents, trademarks, or copyrights.

 

[Mr. S]

Does France have a "Freedom of Panorama" law? (Edit: France does not permit Freedom of Panorama.)

This basically prevents photography in a public space of publicly visible items (thus, not necessarily a person's identity or modeling rights) from suing you over redistribution of images that may contain buildings, vehicles, advertising, and other phenomena which have individual patents, trademarks, or copyrights.

Some places like the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower care about it...others, not so much. I assume it really depends on how they're making money with that. The Eiffel Tower is giving licenses to professionals, so that's a reason for them to enforce it.