Discussion:
What is the name of your state?I live in NJ but photos are taken in Pennsylvania. My husband and I have a personal web site of Gettysburg Pa, with photos of both the town and battlefield. I would like to branch out and start selling calendars and scrapbooks of the hundreds of personal photos we have taken. Will I be allowed to do this with out having to pay for use of the subject matter?
Answer:
What is the name of your state?I live in NJ but photos are taken in Pennsylvania. My husband and I have a personal web site of Gettysburg Pa, with photos of both the town and battlefield. I would like to branch out and start selling calendars and scrapbooks of the hundreds of personal photos we have taken. Will I be allowed to do this with out having to pay for use of the subject matter? If you took the pictures, you own the pictures, you can do what you want with them, as long as they were taken in a public place or from a public vantage point. If they were taken from a "private" location, then you may need to seek permission to use the photos as you suggest.
If the pictures were taken by others, you may not legally use them without permission from the copyright owner, unless the pictures were first published prior to 1923 or are otherwise in the public domain.
Answer:
If you took the pictures, you own the pictures, you can do what you want with them, as long as they were taken in a public place or from a public vantage point. If they were taken from a "private" location, then you may need to seek permission to use the photos as you suggest.
If the pictures were taken by others, you may not legally use them without permission from the copyright owner, unless the pictures were first published prior to 1923 or are otherwise in the public domain. When are you going to take my advice and start giving standard answers?
This question has been asked and answered approximately 6,209.74 times on this forum!

Answer:
When are you going to take my advice and start giving standard answers?
This question has been asked and answered approximately 6,209.74 times on this forum!
I had asked someone at the National Park Service and was told I would have to get their permission the last time I was there. If it had been any of my other photos I wouldn't have had to ask. Being a government holding I wasn't sure. Sorry to bother you.
Answer:
I had asked someone at the National Park Service and was told I would have to get their permission the last time I was there. If it had been any of my other photos I wouldn't have had to ask. Being a government holding I wasn't sure. Sorry to bother you. Wait a minute...you are saying that a federal park ranger told you that you had to have permission to take a photo in a national park?
What did your US Representative say when you complained bitterly about thisn nonsense?
Answer:
Wait a minute...you are saying that a federal park ranger told you that you had to have permission to take a photo in a national park?
What did your US Representative say when you complained bitterly about thisn nonsense? SJ, just FYI, most parks do require that you apply for an obtain a permit for certain types of commercial filming or photography. However, personal photography is specifically exempt from the permit requirements, even if you later sell the prints commercially. The permit process is mainly to control filmmakers and photographers who arrive with all sorts of equipment and entourages.
Answer:
SJ, just FYI, most parks do require that you apply for an obtain a permit for certain types of commercial filming or photography. However, personal photography is specifically exempt from the permit requirements, even if you later sell the prints commercially. The permit process is mainly to control filmmakers and photographers who arrive with all sorts of equipment and entourages. That's pretty sad....
(I am turning into a libertarian in my old age. )