Hi,

I recently went to the "Somebody come and play" sesame street exhibition in New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. I was thinking of doing a blog post showing the photos I took there. The exhibition was free to enter and we were allowed to take as many photos as we liked. Do you think it will be ok for me to share these photos online?

Sesame Street Exhibition

Thanks in advance,
Kirsty

Pretty sure that if they let you take pictures and it was open to the public that you are fine sharing your pictures where ever you want.  The pictures would be your property. No different then going to any other public place and taking pictures and sharing them.

Only limitation is that you can't profit off those pictures as Sesame Street owns copyright on character likeness.  But sharing with friends, articles, reviews, etc.. are fine.  Like Shawn said, they are your pictures.

Only limitation is that you can't profit off those pictures as Sesame Street owns copyright on character likeness.  But sharing with friends, articles, reviews, etc.. are fine.  Like Shawn said, they are your pictures.

Is that right? I can understand protection towards character designs (drawings or sketches) or builds, but are photos also protected?

Copyrights don't stop for not-for-profit use, only 'fair use' which is limited to criticism or review and a few other things. It's often the case that personal use is infringement it's just that no one would spend the dough going after it and it's hard to track.

- Kirsty, if you're really worried, go read the US copyright site. It has an excellent FAQ and there might be relevant info. From the sounds of it you are probably ok, but there's a difference between "please take personal photos as keepsakes" and "please take photos for any use including publishing". Shawn's right, the photos are your copyright and you can do what you want with them, but you should be careful as it might infringe anyway.

Personally I think you'd be ok though. IANAL.

Is that right? I can understand protection towards character designs (drawings or sketches) or builds, but are photos also protected?

To a degree, yes.  From http://blog.kenkaminesky.com/photography-copyright-and-the-law/

Q: If you take a photo of a work of art that you did not create, who owns the copyright?

As the creator of art, the copyright owner has the exclusive rights in the art such as for reproduction. Courts have disagreed as to whether taking photos of copyrighted works is a violation. Regardless, the law prevents you from having copyright ownership of anything that is an infringement.

Taking a photo gives you the copyright to that photo unless you photograph something that is copyrighted.  Ultimately, it is a case by case basis.

To a degree, yes.  From http://blog.kenkaminesky.com/photography-copyright-and-the-law/

Taking a photo gives you the copyright to that photo unless you photograph something that is copyrighted.  Ultimately, it is a case by case basis.

Ah yeah, I forgot about reproduction rights. Still I think if the exhibition organisers allowed photos, then it's reasonable to think that they also allow publication of them. I once tried to photograph Ronnie Burkett designs that were shown at a performance of his; was told by the theatre that I wasn't allowed. That's a fairly good sign that they are protecting the copyrights of the designs.

Thanks for the link. Will read it in detail when I get the chance.

Wow, thanks-that's loads of information! I have some reading to do now!

Thanks for replying people.