Shutterstock Photographer Forum :: View topic

conde · Joined: 14 Jan 2009 Posts: 26

Hi to all!
I have had some refusals of pictures of murals paints taken in public spaces (in churches and public spaces, not museums, for example)in Florence a other cities of Italy because trademark !? in Italy 90 percent of the monuments have 1000 years!!! (maybe I am exaggerating)
it's that new?
there are new guide lines about these?
I think the cause is the personal criteria of reviewers (in front of the doubt, better refuse them to avoid problems )because i have pictures taken in the same day and the same place, but uploaded in other moments that have been approved.
in your opinion, if i upload the pictures again, with an explanation for the editors (about the place -usually small churches of neighborhoods-, dates, author - usually died 400 years ago-)the pictures could have an opportunity to be approved?
it's a shame, because there are really beautiful...i'm really sorry for this.
thanks for your opinions.
conde

hhltdave5 · Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2012 10:32 am

I think if any one of us could figure out the copyright/trademark issue we would be the most loved person here.

This issue can be very complicated because each country has their own laws regarding copyrights and because there is no set standard stock sites err on the side of caution.

The one thing that I can say is that just because you can take a shot from or on public property does not mean you can USE the shot for monetary compensation. You can pretty much take as many as you want as long as you do not break any laws or policies but you often cannot use them.

It does seem as if art such as statues are more often accepted than paintings are. I don't know why because they are both art.

Buildings are a different thing all together because many structures are covered under a different set of laws and guidelines that fall under architectural copyrights.

If you have not seen it yet SS does have a restricted image section where it gives a list of some of the images that are not acceptable.

http://www.shutterstock.com/buzz/legal/stock-photo-restrictions

conde · Joined: 14 Jan 2009 Posts: 26

Thanks for you opinion!
i have never seen that post.
Thanks!