# Can a celeb wearing your shirt in public sue you if you post their pic on your web?



## KW007 (Feb 11, 2008)

Can a celeb wearing your shirt in public sue you if you post their pic on your web? I notice other clothing lines like Ed hardy having hundreds of celeb pics wearing the shirt. I cant imagine his paying all these celebs so im wondering as long as the pic was taken in public and he/she is wearing your design, you do have a right to use that photo and added to your website, myspace, etc? Do you need consent? Same for model does anybody use a consent form for people modeling your shirts?


----------



## Comin'OutSwingin (Oct 28, 2005)

The biggest issue would be getting permission from the photographer and/or service that owns the photo, not necessarily the celeb.

Depending upon where the pic was taken, the celeb *may* own the photo, then you'd be looking at getting permission directly from them.

Other than that, just make sure that you aren't claiming that they've made any statements regarding your shirt, and you're just showing them wearing it.

But the big thing is you need to get permission from whoever owns the photo.


----------



## KW007 (Feb 11, 2008)

hmm interesting. I didnt even think about the photographer but lets say it was me that took the pic, then i should be ok. I just always wondered like celebs wearing ed hardy or some other clothing line. Ed hardy's website has hundreds of celebs and there is no way they are paying everyone of them.


----------



## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

You don't have to pay to get permission. You just have to ask.

You can bet Ed Hardy gave all of those shirts to the celebs.


----------



## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

This is interesting question, I agree with Greg, he's totally right regarding the photog owns the rights to *his* picture, that's what the paparazzi make a living at.

As far as your own picture that you took... I guess if you put the celebs pic on your site, they could have a beef with you making money off of their image (assuming you would put the celeb on your site, to boost your image because of the celeb wearing your shirt.)

Celebrities have something called (what the heck is the actual name) right to control who makes money off of their image/likeness.

I wonder if that would come into play here.... but, since I am not a lawyer, that's all I can do, wonder. Unless someone is a trained professional, they can't really answer your question... so.. it was fun to ponder the question overall...

But you need to speak to a lawyer to find out what the laws are, and what the precedent is. Nothing anyone here tells you, overall, will be bonafide. We could end up getting you in trouble if we are wrong... or you could get yourself in trouble be listening to us. 

No one wants that to happen... so please seek the proper advice from a trained pro... a lawyer experienced in these things. Have a great day.


----------



## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

splathead said:


> You can bet Ed Hardy gave all of those shirts to the celebs.


I just recently heard that the guy from Ed Hardy gave tons of tee shirts out to those people on the reality shows. It's just what I heard and not from the Ed Hardy guy, so it's still just hearsay, tho.


----------



## KW007 (Feb 11, 2008)

Thanks for everyones input. Ok so im thinking say he gave out all those shirts to celebs, does he then have the right to have their pic on his site? I just dont think hes paying every single celeb plus some of the pics were just like a normal walking down the street type of pic that was taken by who knows who. There is a pic on ed hardys website of diddy wearing ed hardy. Now diddy owns his own line so i found it weird that hes on ed hardys site wearing ed hardy. 

I asked this questions to different people. A news anchor person said its ok to use if it was taken in public. A tax lawyer agreed but I still need enough feed back to make sure.


----------



## Dragr (Jan 11, 2009)

Does anyone here actually have this problem? Like for real?!?


----------



## Binary01 (Jun 2, 2007)

i would just have a gallery of images and put the pics in there.... don't comment of them or anything, but just a gallery of random folks wearing your gear. if they have an issue then you might get a letter telling you to take the pic down, but if anything, it's more promotions for that person too.... 

maybe put a disclaimer under the pic or on the site also...

b


----------



## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

KW007 said:


> Thanks for everyones input. Ok so im thinking say he gave out all those shirts to celebs, does he then have the right to have their pic on his site? I just dont think hes paying every single celeb plus some of the pics were just like a normal walking down the street type of pic that was taken by who knows who. There is a pic on ed hardys website of diddy wearing ed hardy. Now diddy owns his own line so i found it weird that hes on ed hardys site wearing ed hardy.
> 
> I asked this questions to different people. A news anchor person said its ok to use if it was taken in public. A tax lawyer agreed but I still need enough feed back to make sure.



It's OK for news anchors because they are reporting news, not promoting a brand.

The owner of Hardy is buds with all these celebs. If you notice, he is also in most of the pictures!

That guy is a multi-millionaire, you can bet his lawyers make sure waivers are signed.

Now that's not to say I wouldn't use it on my site if I had a celeb picture. I would take my chances.


----------



## Dragr (Jan 11, 2009)

So this question does come up a lot with my buds who shoot on a public stretch of highway known as The Dragon, or US 129 running through East TN and North Carolina. There are about 8 photogs who line up along the road and photograph people going by, and then they sell these photos to the public. The reason they are able to do this without permission from the people of whom they photographed is because the subject was on public property.

However, using someone's image to promote your brand is another matter. Using the celebs image in a tabloid or on your blog is one thing. Saying, "Julia Roberts endorses my wide edge lipstick applicator" is another.


----------



## Comin'OutSwingin (Oct 28, 2005)

Dragr said:


> Does anyone here actually have this problem? Like for real?!?


Yes, some people do. For real.


----------



## KW007 (Feb 11, 2008)

Its a good question to know because at some point hopefully one of us if not more of us will face this situation. I mean we hope to face it and have some celeb wearing our shirts.

Its true that Christian Audigier is friends w/ all these celebs and he may just give them a shirt but i doubt hes paying everyone of them to wear them so im wondering did they give consent to have their pic on his site. Was Diddy actually ok to have his pic on ed hardys site when he has sean john? For people like us that dont know these celebs, is it ok to have their pic w/ out any caption or writing on it in our website? People are going to see them with the shirt regardless if they are on the website or not so they are actually marketing just being outside with out meaning to.

At the end of the day what matters is the buyer(customer). The customer doesnt care if the celeb was paid of not. They just see Joe blow wearing it and want to wear it too.


----------



## ambitious (Oct 29, 2007)

What i would do is take the pic of the celebrity wearing my t-shirt, take it to a lawyer and ask if it's okay to use it for advertisement purposes, for the fact that he/she is wearing one of my designs. Then you go from there. I can tell you this much though that cash maybe an issue for this matter if you don't have it, but if you do have it... be ready to make a lot of money... especially if it's a very well known celebrity.


----------



## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

Hm, I love TV sometimes. I was just watching E, and this following came on and I thought of this thread....

Vivica A Fox is going after Friends Psychic Network because she said she never authorized them to use her likeness or image to promote their product. (E then rolled the tape on what she is talking about, which she basically made what looks like a commercial for FPN, and they said this Well, it sure looks like an endorsement.... ???

So, keywords: authorized use of likeness, image to promote product, and endorsement...

So back to what has been said a few times... you really need to ask a lawyer. Ask the lawyer the questions you are asking here about Ed Hardy, money, friends, etc... 

There's no way you can guess what the deal is, neither can we. What you propose to do may very well have some legal consequences, so you need to consult an attorney, not a tshirt forum, it's really in your best interest to get help from the right place. =)


----------



## splathead (Dec 4, 2005)

Kelly makes a good point. And the bottom line is if the celebrity is famous enough for you to want to promote on your site, then someone already is paying them, or would be willing pay them to promote their product. Them being placed on your site could jeopardize their current or future contract with a similar product.


----------



## RBC est. 07 (Feb 13, 2009)

Thats the truth... 
If they had that problem they probably wouldn't be here.



Dragr said:


> Does anyone here actually have this problem? Like for real?!?


----------



## Comin'OutSwingin (Oct 28, 2005)

RBC est. 07 said:


> Thats the truth...
> If they had that problem they probably wouldn't be here.


Again, yes people *here* actually have that problem.

There are members of this forum that run very highly successful t-shirt brands. Some of these members make themselves known, and others don't. But, they're members here nonetheless.

I've seen several pics of celebs, and celebs on TV shows, wearing t-shirts of people who are members of this forum.

So, yes, there are members of this forum who really do actually have this problem....


----------



## Girlzndollz (Oct 3, 2007)

I saw someone on MTV TRL, the host, wearing a shirt of a member here!


----------

