MicrostockGroup
Microstock Photography Forum - General => General Stock Discussion => Topic started by: anc on October 15, 2010, 09:45
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Hi quick question for your guys hope you can help.
I design CD covers. On one of the covers I am designing there is a car on the cover. I changed the license plate to have the initials of my fiance. Just to give here a little surprise when I show her.
Am I breaking some copyright if a license plate number is printed on a CD cover.
I literally have made it to say JTP1 on the license plate.
Say someone has that license plate on another car - could they then sue the artist of the CD? or me?
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I'm not an intellectual property lawyer.
I think you are fine. I even believe you are fine if a car owner had that specific tag.
Since the original tag has been modified to a fictional order of letters and a number, I think the tag owner would have to prove you actually took a picture of their tag.
Since you can prove that you didn't take that image and by keeping the Photoshop file showing all layers of editing including the fact that these letters are your fiance's initials I'd say it's a far stretch to get sued over this.
You aren't spelling out a name, brand or other copyrighted words and I also assume that any major advertising agency's ads that contain vehicles with tags are fictional but could be found somewhere in real life also. I'd say this would be without intention. License plates add to the realism of an image and I doubt courts could sue over fictional license plates.
I'm not an intellectual property lawyer.