Sporting Pictures

Green Gooner

I was wondering are you allowed to post sporting images on an internet forum be it GAA, Soccer, Rugby etc? I always assumed you could but whilst I was going to put some up this evening I noticed a site saying you couldnt use theirs without permission.

I would normally get sporting images from Google Images and put them on photobucket then take them from my photobucket page and put on the forums/boards I'm on. I know a lot of people would post sporting images regardless, but strictly speaking, is it illegal?

GerardKeating

Green Gooner wrote: »

I was wondering are you allowed to post sporting images on an internet forum be it GAA, Soccer, Rugby etc? I always assumed you could but whilst I was going to put some up this evening I noticed a site saying you couldnt use theirs without permission.

I would normally get sporting images from Google Images and put them on photobucket then take them from my photobucket page and put on the forums/boards I'm on. I know a lot of people would post sporting images regardless, but strictly speaking, is it illegal?

Whom every took the photo owns the copyright on the photo, if you took the "sporting image" you can post it anywhere, if you find it on another site, you need their permission.

Hogzy

GerardKeating wrote: »

Whom every took the photo owns the copyright on the photo, if you took the "sporting image" you can post it anywhere, if you find it on another site, you need their permission.

What if your hotlinking though.Surely its no different than going onto google images and finding something there.

Fair enough if you are doing it for profit it would be illegal but i dont see anything wrong with linking to another persons page!

Green Gooner

Anyone else know?

For example, you could get a picture of any famous sports personality on photobucket. Surely that mean's you can post the pictures....I'm confused

Paulw

Green Gooner wrote: »

Anyone else know?

For example, you could get a picture of any famous sports personality on photobucket. Surely that mean's you can post the pictures....I'm confused

No it doesn't.

You can only post images if you own the copyright to that image. The owner has the right to decide when/where/how their image can be used, and also what cost/charge is required for usage of the image.

I suggest that you research copyright and usage rights.

It's like if you go in to a shop and see an item on a shelf you like. Does that mean you can take it and put it in another shop? No, it's theft.

SLOOPY

Paulw wrote: »

No it doesn't.

You can only post images if you own the copyright to that image. The owner has the right to decide when/where/how their image can be used, and also what cost/charge is required for usage of the image.

I suggest that you research copyright and usage rights.

It's like if you go in to a shop and see an item on a shelf you like. Does that mean you can take it and put it in another shop? No, it's theft.

If i was a player on a pitch,in say an English Premier League game
and a photographer took a photo of me during the game,would he need to obtain my permission to sell on the photo of me to the media etc.?

Victor

There has been some case law that hot-linking is not breach of copyright. Straight hyper-linking or publishing a URL is not breach of copyright. Common decency says attribute what you have borrowed.

Downloading and uploading elsewhere could easily be breach of copyright. However, in practical terms if its only a small amount of material, most copyright owners aren't going to create a major fuss.

SLOOPY wrote: »

If i was a player on a pitch,in say an English Premier League game
and a photographer took a photo of me during the game,would he need to obtain my permission to sell on the photo of me to the media etc.?

Generally no, unless it was covered by contract (e.g. the contracts between sports organisations and media companies for broadcasting games - note some specific "cultural" exceptions) or the terms under which he was allowed take the photo (the ground owners allowing him onto the premises so he could take pictures - contrast that with music personalities banning photography at concerts.

It might be another matter if the photographer produced "The Big Book of SLOOPY photographs - live, love, soccer and the changing room" and was trading off your image, especially if you also traded in you image, e.g as a model.

Green Gooner

I forgot to mention that you can also post a picture up on this site...be it sporting, entertainment etc. I have never seen a regarding copyright.

If you go on most football forum's, say Red Cafe, a large Man Utd one, you will see piles of sporting pics as avatars, signigtures etc that some people use on their profile.

That is what I am on about in case there was any confusion.

Paulw

Green Gooner wrote: »

I forgot to mention that you can also post a picture up on this site...be it sporting, entertainment etc.

Actually, according to the Terms of Use for boards.ie (http://www.boards.ie/terms/tou_51.php) you cannot post copyright material.

How that's enforced on each section is down to the mods.

In general, sports players/clubs don't own the rights to the images taken at sporting events (by accredited photographers), due to agreements.

Any images used for advertising (commercial advertising) would require permission from the player (or agent) and the club.

Editorial images (in papers) would not require further permission from clubs/players, only that the photographer is accredited for the event.

SLOOPY

Victor wrote: »

There has been some case law that hot-linking is not breach of copyright. Straight hyper-linking or publishing a URL is not breach of copyright. Common decency says attribute what you have borrowed.

Downloading and uploading elsewhere could easily be breach of copyright. However, in practical terms if its only a small amount of material, most copyright owners aren't going to create a major fuss.
Generally no, unless it was covered by contract (e.g. the contracts between sports organisations and media companies for broadcasting games - note some specific "cultural" exceptions) or the terms under which he was allowed take the photo (the ground owners allowing him onto the premises so he could take pictures - contrast that with music personalities banning photography at concerts.

It might be another matter if the photographer produced "The Big Book of SLOOPY photographs - live, love, soccer and the changing room" and was trading off your image, especially if you also traded in you image, e.g as a model.

Thank's for the reply,Victor.
Just asked the question out of curiosity.