using your own pictures on the web

[bigblue]

I have a personal website where I post pictures that I take of our towns activities. No one complains about my posting them and they look forward to seeing the pictures that I take (mostly our schools sports events). My question is simply, if I take a picture of someone do I have to get their permission to post it on my website? The main reason for the question is that I have excess space on my site and I built a small site for a friend (at no cost) who has a small business and I included pictures of some of her customers that I took earlier this year. You can view the sites at these two url's www.gobigblu.com & www.debbiesnacks.gobigblu.com to see the type of site and content.

 

[Michael Wechsler]

I have a personal website where I post pictures that I take of our towns activities. No one complains about my posting them and they look forward to seeing the pictures that I take (mostly our schools sports events). My question is simply, if I take a picture of someone do I have to get their permission to post it on my website? The main reason for the question is that I have excess space on my site and I built a small site for a friend (at no cost) who has a small business and I included pictures of some of her customers that I took earlier this year.

This is a very good question. If you take a picture of someone, did you get their consent to take their picture, e.g. they see you with the camera and pose? For the most part, these questions are usually never solved by "law" but if there are objections the site owner will remove the picture in question and problem is solved. The legal issues can be more challenging and beyond the scope of this conversation, e.g. does the state you are in have privacy rights laws (see California for the most vigilant "Paparazzi laws"), etc.