user submitted content and consent questions

[harleyx]

Any lawyers out there who can tell me what, if any, laws pertain to:

A) user submitted content, particularly pictures or videos

B) consent necessary to post pictures I have taken in a house, bar, or on the street? Do I need consent of the person(s) in the picture(s)? I know TV will often blur out a persons face (even people filmed on the street), so I'm curious.

Is a bar (pizza shop, bookstore, other business) considered a public place the same as a street or sidewalk would be in this context?

[pam]

I'm not an attorney and don't play on online, but I strongly suggest you learn all you can about 18 USC 2257. Basically you need proof of age of every person in a sexual situation (as defined by 18 USC 2256) and you must list the full legal name of the custodian of records on your website, along with the address those records are kept. You must use specific language, specific point type and for videos, it must be at a certain point on the video. The new changes to this law were put through this summer, and the Free Speech Coalition is suing and has an injuction against the DOJ. Only those who are members of the FSC can not be prosecuted at this time, but should the suit go the wrong way, you can and will be prosecuted.

Secondly, you do need permission to film in a bar. I'd also be careful of what products are in the photo, as one major adult sponsor program is being sued as they took photos with a well-known product in them, and they are being sued as those photos, it's claimed, damaged their reputation.

Any lawyers out there who can tell me what, if any, laws pertain to:

A) user submitted content, particularly pictures or videos

B) consent necessary to post pictures I have taken in a house, bar, or on the street? Do I need consent of the person(s) in the picture(s)? I know TV will often blur out a persons face (even people filmed on the street), so I'm curious.

Is a bar (pizza shop, bookstore, other business) considered a public place the same as a street or sidewalk would be in this context?

[kfordahl]

I am an attorney and can tell you that you are right to think about these issues. Rather than trying to write an entire treatise on copyright and clearance issues, I searched Google and found this article: http://www.cio.com/archive/webbusiness/120199_gray.html
see if reading it helps!
Everyone holds an exclusive right to their own publicity, if you plan to host or post photos of any person (background or not), the general rule is, get permission in writing.

[harleyx]

Yea, good information but rather basic.

I know people use pictures with people in them for all sorts of different things (brochures, tv ads, etc), so there has to be some kind of fair use clause there or people just don't care enough to sue. Either way suits me fine, I just want to find the actual laws that state what's what.

[Domagon]

A) user submitted content, particularly pictures or videos

Depends on what the content is and how and where it will be used...

If one runs a NON-adult oriented message / picture post type site, the biggest legal issue will be copyright infringement ... an easy issue to address relative to others.

If running a large site based in the U.S., definitely be sure to register your site(s) with the U.S. Register of Copyrights - the safe harbor provisions offer much protection; copyright holders like the DMCA, since it streamlines the takedown process - a win, win for both content producers and websites alike ... end-users, well that's another story.

B) consent necessary to post pictures I have taken in a house, bar, or on the street? Do I need consent of the person(s) in the picture(s)? I know TV will often blur out a persons face (even people filmed on the street), so I'm curious.

If for commerical use (and that includes non-profit ventures too), then most times yes. Depends on the context, the use of, jurisdiction in which they were taken, etc.

Is a bar (pizza shop, bookstore, other business) considered a public place the same as a street or sidewalk would be in this context?

No. Often if pictures / video is being taken for say a movie, etc such places will post signs informing patrons of that fact. Again though, it depends - if the pictures / video is being taken as part of a news story, no consent may be needed.

In a nutshell, most times one should get permission first, but legally may not always be required - when in doubt, getting permission is usually the best course of action; alternatively blurring the images.

Lastly, it's issues like this in which paying for an attorney (ideally more than one to get different opinions) is well worth the money in the longrun.

Ron