Who Owns the Fansigns we Request?
 

I just got an email from a guy claiming to be the husband of a model. She was from mennonitemayhem.com

He asked that I remove the fansign pic. Now I have no idea who this really is emailing me but I was curious as to who owns the fansigns we get from different programs ...

:upsidedow

Technically, the photographer / program owns the copyright.

I asked a similar question and was told it's good practice to ask, but generally the programs know you're going to use them to promote your sites.

Ima use all mine for WHATEVER I WANT...

Fuck yall niggaz.

:thumbsup

Tell him to fuck off. use the 2257 from the sponsor page on the page with the image. If he is nice and you want to do him a favor, remove it.

Reply: Bite me. WTF are they giving out fan signs if they did not think they would be used? Did they really think they had "fans?"

I like how you think :thumbsup

Hell yea. Tell em to eat a dick. That's your shit nig!

After seeing the I had my PC stolen and lost all my fan signs thread, can I get more please. I am pretty damn certain at least half indeed were for "fans".

Then technically there is no license given except one could argue a temporary right to use was technically given. Yet the copyright holder (photographer or sometimes model) could still be within their rights to tell everyone to stop using them, as none of us have a license that states otherwise and just assumptions.

+1 for telling them to fkoff

I really thought the mennonite mayhem site and hillbilly dollars are gone anyway

I'd remove it for like 3 months and then put it back up again. What is he going to do, sue everyone... no one can afford that.

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I had great google traffic for that site, prolly sent close to 1 mil hits from a GOOD blog, maybe 3-5 sales. What a waste. I dont think I got paid either.

A fansign to a dead domain is pretty much useless.

If the site is down what good is a fan sign?

Just about all that I requested listed my site primarily. If they added theirs at the bottom and are now offline. Easy fix.

you had a ratio of like 1:175000?

And people complain when they are 1:5000 here.... damn! :2 cents:

yeah shame. thats why i let the name just expire and never chased em...stupid ass program. Fly by night. ooh well.

If the fansign is intended to promote a particular website (ie. has the model's pic, website name, and/or logo, etc in it), then copyright isn't the only issue, trademark / passing-off comes into play too.

So even if the artist who designed the fansign says it's ok to use, the website, even for fansigns they didn't commission / don't own the copyright to, may still restrict its use.

Ron

With a fan sign you usually have an oral license than can be revoked at anytime. The owner of the rights are the model....and the photographer who owns the copyright in the picture. If she signed a model release then her rights pass to the photographer/program/sponsor. If the photographer signs a work for hire or works as an employee of the sponsor/program then his rights pass to sponsor/program.

In order for you to own the fan sign you will need, in writing, an assignment of rights from the photographer/program/sponsor as well as a model release signed by the model. If she isnt completely naked you probably do need to worry about 2257 though.

Ron does bring up a good point about TMs. If you have releases make sure it covers TMs as well.

if the program is GIVING fan signs (as they generally announce) then the fan sign is your... even if you don't have the release...

I am telling you "Legally" that is not correct.

Only way it would be correct is if you used it 100% as a fansign and did not publish it anywhere that makes or can make you any profit, and it can be argued that even traffic is a profit of sorts.

They are just giving you a verbal usage at best. It can be revoked. You could get into trouble either by copyright or trademark violations.


I am not surprised by such reactions though. The majority of people on here or other boards pretending to be in business or to be fair just running a business without any idea of real world laws.
For instance how many get anything in writing from say a designer or toon creator giving you all of the rights to what they created? Could you fight it out in court and maybe win? Sure, but at what costs? Plus facts still remain the creator typically owns the actual copyright unless it is turned over and not that many of you have in house designers or such.

The fan signs belong to the program. Just like ANY other promotional tools they have available!