Pictures of your car are not your property....

[jcp123]

I never realized there were even statutes governing this...boggles my mind what bureaucrats can find to regulate.

[ZeTurbo]

The actual pictures aren't, but what is featured in the pictures is.

So i cant photograph anything that isnt my property?

Permission is the key.

This looks like a good explanation:

The Law for Photographers / Travel Photography Law / Legal Issues of Taking Photos

"Works of art - sculptures, paintings, and even toys - are protectable by copyright... A copyright owner has the exclusive right to reproduce a copyrighted work, and photographing a copyrighted work is considered a way of reproducing it. Thus, you may need permission to photograph a building or an art work."



You will see on some photographs (supplied to the media by car companies) "for editorial use only" - this allows for the photograph to be reproduced for editorial use - reviews, descriptions etc - that is how websites and magazines are able to use media images.

You may notice that all of the photographs used in the UCP database are either supplied by the car company or taken by Wouter/Pieter and a few others - that is for copyright reasons.

There are also other exemptions under "fair use" - if you look at some of the copyrighted images on Wikipedia, there are often explanations of how the image is considered "fair use" - it can be for criticism/review, parody, size/quality compared to the original, etc.

Technically, whenever you post a picture in a thread that you have "found" somewhere else, without getting permission, you are violating the copyright and breaking the law.

This happens a lot though, so it would be difficult for anyone to constantly track down and prosecute every violation - usually it only gets legal when someone tries to make money - as the Mustang club did.

But aren pieter and wouter taking pictures of fords without their consent?
Arent thei taking profit from the website?

I am not trying to refute your arguments, i am just trying to understand...

[clutch-monkey]

would an example of what ford is getting at be like this:
if you worked for a men's magazine and took a photo of a nude model on your own ford mustang, and published it as a centrefold?

am i close? idk, seems extreme either way

[2ndclasscitizen]

Permission is the key.

This looks like a good explanation:

The Law for Photographers / Travel Photography Law / Legal Issues of Taking Photos

"Works of art - sculptures, paintings, and even toys - are protectable by copyright... A copyright owner has the exclusive right to reproduce a copyrighted work, and photographing a copyrighted work is considered a way of reproducing it. Thus, you may need permission to photograph a building or an art work."

Off private property, you are able to take a photo of pretty much anything without permission just as long as it's not for profit. There's been a few cases in Australia lately where corporations have tried to stop and/or sue people taking pictures of buildings, and all have been either thrown out or didn't get anywhere.

If this Mustang group where intending making profit from these calenders there may be a case, but I doubt they were.

[fomocona]

I monitor several webpages on behalf of Ford and I hope you don't mind me posting a comment here. The calendar issue was a misunderstanding and it has been resolved. Ford does not intend to alienate any enthusiasts clubs and that's why we moved quickly to clear the air. For more details please see the Black Mustang Club official website BMC Calendars: Approved by Ford & For Sale! - BMC Forums - Black Mustang Club . We appreciate our loyal customers and Mustang enthusiasts such as the Black Mustang Club members.

[jcp123]

I monitor several webpages on behalf of Ford and I hope you don't mind me posting a comment here. The calendar issue was a misunderstanding and it has been resolved. Ford does not intend to alienate any enthusiasts clubs and that's why we moved quickly to clear the air. For more details please see the Black Mustang Club official website BMC Calendars: Approved by Ford & For Sale! - BMC Forums - Black Mustang Club . We appreciate our loyal customers and Mustang enthusiasts such as the Black Mustang Club members.

Thanks for the update. My Mustang and I feel much better! I was considering taking my SVT Focus to a place other than the Ford house for some diagnostics because of this, but if all is well again, then I may end up taking it to the Ford house after all.

[henk4]

I monitor several webpages on behalf of Ford and I hope you don't mind me posting a comment here. The calendar issue was a misunderstanding and it has been resolved. Ford does not intend to alienate any enthusiasts clubs and that's why we moved quickly to clear the air. For more details please see the Black Mustang Club official website BMC Calendars: Approved by Ford & For Sale! - BMC Forums - Black Mustang Club . We appreciate our loyal customers and Mustang enthusiasts such as the Black Mustang Club members.

Thanks for resolving this issue.

[Coventrysucks]

So i cant photograph anything that isnt my property?

Yes, but if it is protected by copyright, technically you should get permission first.

But aren pieter and wouter taking pictures of fords without their consent?
Arent thei taking profit from the website?

You could probably argue that UCP's use would be covered by fair use - i.e. for the purposes of criticism or review.

Ford does not intend to alienate any enthusiasts clubs and that's why we moved quickly to clear the air. For more details please see the Black Mustang Club official website BMC Calendars: Approved by Ford & For Sale! - BMC Forums - Black Mustang Club .

As I thought, everyone jumped the gun - it sounds as if Ford would have been happy to allow the calender to go ahead if permission had been sought before hand, and it was more an issue relating to trademarks rather than the photos directly as the Club's posts seemed to imply..