I'm not crazy! Someone IS taking pictures of my cars and posting them online...

I find it cool when I see cars I've built show up on websites. Means they like what I did.

 

Ha! Good to know...good to know.

 

For the most part...this is true.

If it's in public, and the photographer is on public property...it's only fair game to shoot...not to sell. HOW the pictures are sold is where the law gets fuzzy.

It's actually alot more complicated than people make it out to be.

Again...To put it simply...Commercial usage or selling of photographs for commercial usage requires permission of anybody in the photo, or permission from the owners of property in the photo. This "usually" only applies if a person's image or property is prominently featured as the dominant subject of the photo.

Calenders, for example, would also be considered commercial usage by most courts. And I would guess that any car owners seeking legal- financial compensation for their cars showing up in a calender without their permission...would win in court. The question would be...is it worth paying a lawyer to fight it...compared to what compensation you would receive in a win? I would guess that's a big NO!! haha. And I can't see a court rewarding punitive damages for something like that...depends on the case though.

Now if your car showed up prominently in a Coca Cola ad, I would recommend talking to a lawyer immediately!!

A photographer selling photographs of your car as fine art prints is walking in the grey. But!...not worth fighting and difficult to win.

A photographer selling photos of your car directly to a publisher for editorial content in a newspaper, magazine or website is safe as a church.

However, if the photo is used on the cover of a magazine, that can be considered commercial usage and the same laws could apply. Not safe as a church.

I could go on forever with examples that are safe, grey, or dangerous...

So I'll stop after this...

I vaguely remember a case years ago involving a team franchise and the architect of their stadium seeking damages from a photographer that sold photographs of the skyline that prominently featured their building. Can't remember specifics...but I do remember that it was a hard fought case and the photographer was ****ting himself down to the wire. He survived to shoot another day, but the case set precedents and drew lines in the sand as to what is ripping off another guys hard work and what is infringing on the rights of the photographer.

It all boiled down to how the pictures were sold, and how prominently the property was featured in the skyline.

Cases are always being fought and rights of both sides are being constantly challenged...the only truly safe place seems to be in a newspaper, inside an editorial magazine/website...or hanging on the walls of an art gallery.

Oh...and good luck talking to a lawyer for 5 minutes...lol...you'll be getting a $250 invoice in the mail.

 

A guy came up to my car from 6 cars back,and asked to take a picture of my Ranchero when I was stopped for a train! He was very polite about it!

 

And for these guys in the thread arguing back and forth about photographers making money off their hard work (building their cars).

Here's how I feel as a professional photographer.

If I'm there hoping to sell images of your car to you, you're simply paying for my time and service in photographing your car. I'm just brining the option to you...getting my legit hustle on.

If I plan to publish images of your car in a newspaper or magazine...I would tell you if you were around, or if you asked.

If I plan to use photographs of your car for a postcard, poster, calender or anything like that...I'm %100 for damn sure be asking for a SIGNED photo-release. If you wanted crazy compensation to sign the release...I'd just move to the next guy and not use the photos of your car.

I think alot of amatuer/advanced hobbyist photographers are not totally aware of the laws and complications involved...and often times come off self-en***led because of that.

That being said...alot of ***hole car owners are the same. lol

My advice for any photographers is to use communication and honesty whenever you're photographing anything. If you don't, you can end up on the wrong end of a legal battle, or the wrong end of a beatdown...or even worse.

Photojournalists, however, work a little differently and often times stealth plays a big role in capturing "real" life moments. We learn to walk the fine line of when to just "take" your shots, and when to open up a line of communication.

Most of my best work comes from opening a line of communication, then just haning out for a long long long time with people. When I say long...I mean over a period of weeks or months. It's a hard relationship to establish...but incredibly rewarding and priveledged when it works.

 

If you have a cool car expect people to take photos of it. Now, that being said they do not have a right to make a profit from your work IMHO