Discussion:
What is the name of your state? ohio, I sell on-line softball bats and 1 company sales rep.( not legal dept.) contacted me and said because I am using a picture of their bat and name I am guilty of copyright ? Can someone advise me ? thank you
Answer:
You need the permission of the copyright holder.
Answer:
What is the name of your state? ohio, I sell on-line softball bats and 1 company sales rep.( not legal dept.) contacted me and said because I am using a picture of their bat and name I am guilty of copyright ? Can someone advise me ? thank you If you are using a picture that someone else took, then seniorjudge is correct, you need the permission of the owner of the picture to use the picture. However, if you took the picture, then you are free to use the picture, period.
Another issue is trademark. Are you an authorized seller of these bats, or are you just a reseller who obtained the bats from another source? If you are an authorized dealer, you have no problems as long as you are abiding by your agreements with the company. However, if you are not an authorized dealer, you can still sell the bats (unless they are fake), and you can still use the name of the bat and the picture (that YOU took) of the bat -- but you need to be very careful, and only use the trademarked name in a "purely descriptive" manner, and do not use the name or picture in such a manner that implies that you are authorized, endorsed by, or otherwise affiliated with the bat company.
So it would be okay to advertise an "ACME Bat" and have a picture of the bat. It would might be legal, but maybe not, to say "See us for all of your ACME Bat needs" -- that probably strays away enough from "purely descriptive" to be potentially infringing. "We are your ACME headquarters" would clearly be infringing.