|
Forums >
Photography Talk >
kind of an odd copyright question
I do a lot of shooting in cemetaries...not model shoots, but of the stones themselves. http://www-personal.umich.edu/~dankim/jb/ I think some of the work is awesome and that's actually where I learned to shoot portraits...they'll sit there all day if you need them to. Lately I've seen some photogs selling work taken in cemetaries and I've been thinking of doing the same. Anyone know if there are copyrights on grave stones? Sep 10 05 07:28 am Link No copyrights on gravestones that I am aware of, but you might need a property release from the cemetery. (sp?) Any time you are shooting on private property it is a good idea to get a property release, regardless of the final use of the photo. As a human being, it might be worthwhile to consider how that grave and headstone is depicted. A little consideration for the feelings of the deceased persons' family is not out of order. For such shots it is sometimes wise to ask if the name of the person really needs to be in the shot. If not, that is one means by which any offense can be pretty well avoided. Sep 10 05 07:50 am Link Yeah I try to never include names if I don't have to. Sep 10 05 08:08 am Link The property release from the gravesite owner(s) and maybe the town (if its public property and not privatly owned) should be all you need. I would question this copyright thing if your doing photos of a popular gravesite or the gravesite that is most popular on the property or the one people use as a marker of types. For those instances and to cover yuor butt i might get ahold of the family of the gravestone and ask thier permission. They may like a photo also if it comes out good. I would let them all know your doing photos, most will likely buy one from you. Its very popular to get photos of gravestones also for people out of state. I have looked at alot of sites that do this and put my name up for gettin gphotos for people who want them and send them to thier email and they pay me. Sep 10 05 08:32 am Link G Katsis Photography wrote: For a cemetery, public or private, should you have something like a model release form for that? Are there fees that the private owner or city would charge you? I've thought about setting up shoots like that, but never got as far as actually asking for permission to do it (read as "I've snuck in places that I probably shouldn't have been") Sep 10 05 04:18 pm Link Peter Turner wrote: For most public places you need permission from the mayors office to do a shoot. They will need to know if it is for commercial or private use, exhibits, sales ect. They will have the paperwork, they fill it out and give it to you. You keep it on you at all times during the shoot so if cops come around you just show them and they let you on your way. If you dont have the paperwork with you then you most likely will go to jail depending on different things such as what your doing and where and who is around. Sep 10 05 04:28 pm Link Here is the way it is out here in my neck of the woods.. (or grave yard)  I have asked permission from the manager / owners of the grave yards..and every single time, regardless if it is a Federal, Private, or Public graveyard, I have been asked to not clealy photograph the names on the monuments. I just try to minimize that by the composition in the shot,..and in some cases, I have mushed out the face of the monument.. The last thing I want is a civil suit because some grieving family didn't dig the artistic concept of a model in goth attire next to their beloved one's grave.....that and,.....I like to use the locations I shoot at.....and I know other photographers do too,...and I wouldn't want the property managers to tell us, No Photography Allowed!.. That would really suck! Keep it clean,...keep it cool!  JP Sep 10 05 04:42 pm Link John Paul wrote: Yea the monuments are some of the more important people or landmarks of graveyards. Lots of times people can tell you the name, place of a graveyard by a monument they see. Sep 10 05 04:52 pm Link I usually try to stay away from graveyards, but i was recently convinced to do a shoot in one down in Texas, and since im not from there, the model who convinced me to do it contacted the owners, and they were very helpful and even had the security guard made aware that we were coming( we didnt know he knew so it made things abit interesting at first) and we had a very productive shoot that lasted uninterupted for 3 hours or so. Point is the owners were cool because we let them know what we wanted to do, and let them know we werent vandals, or anything crazy.. even a parent of one of the residents of the cemetery who happened to show up in the middle of the shoot was very cool with it after she found outfrom the security guard (that was following us around but keeping a respectful distance mind you;) what we were doing. Jus tone example of how prior planning on this kind of thing can help.. as to copyrights.. well i alter any tombs i use by simply editing out the names on the monuments. Sep 15 05 04:54 am Link Problems that will come into play is private property and remember there is a need of a Property release of anything in that area that you are shooting. Another issues that will come up is the names on the Stones are of a living if not family's name, I am sure there will not be a problem with usage if it's for not editorial usage, but once that image is seen in public you might be slapped with action against you or they'll ask for a written arrangement for usage of their names in your work. Fine art usage is somewhat forgiving, but once you make profit from those images then it becomes a issues of making profit from it that can be uosetting to those which still hold some personal connection to even a grave stone. So take into count how you you react to your family memebers grave being used in a poster for a gallery openning. Sep 15 05 05:03 am Link Very interesting subject you're shooting Joel! Not something I would want to do, but I like your work. I would like to see more takes on cemetary photography. Could you post some good sites or maybe the work of other who have inspired you to produce your art? Thanks! Jerrold Sep 15 05 08:35 am Link It all depends on usage. If you are shooting a model in a cemetary, then property release may not be necessary. If you are simply shooting a cemetary for the cemetary's artistic value, then a property release may be required. The best thing to do inthis instance is to contact the cemetary and ask them what you need from them. Sep 15 05 09:39 am Link A grave marker would be considered a work of the visual arts (sculpture) and would be subject to the normal copyright considerations. A plain stone with straight text on it would be almost uncopyrightable: a fancy carved marker would be fairly well protected. Any marker created within the past 75 years or so might be subject to the creator's copyright, so act accordingly. M Sep 15 05 10:21 am Link StMarc wrote: Correct if I am wrong StMarc, But as long as the copyrighted image is not the Subject of the Photo, but instead, 'Incidental Background" then no copyright consideration is needed. Is that understanding correct, and If not, then how can people take a picture of things like the manhatten skyline without getting releases from the Architects of the buildings.... Sep 15 05 12:09 pm Link That's true to some degree. However, the way you find out what the main subject of the photograph is, is you get sued and see who wins in court. Not the most efficient way to utilize resources. M Sep 15 05 04:45 pm Link StMarc wrote: This always interests me. Tourists take pictures like that all the time. How many tourists get sued? Sep 15 05 07:13 pm Link lll wrote: Very few, because sticking it in your vacation album, while technically a copyright infringement, isn't going to make anybody mad. Nor would using it editorially. (Well, it might, but they couldn't do anything about it.) That's why I said "Act appropriately." That's shorthand for "Don't try to commercially exploit it." lll wrote: Public use of what for what? Sep 15 05 07:52 pm Link |
