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[imx16]

hey guys

so basically i want to know that there are many sites which shows wallpapers or pics of famous us celeb so basically i want to know who is the rightful owner of these pics the photographer or the celebrity?

also i have made android application on same assumption that photos taken by photographers and they are rightful owners so i wont get any problem about the copyright issue but i have been charged with infringement from one celebrity due to this but there are many wallpaper site and application/software that are showing many celebrity pictures but they are not having any kind of problem

please guide me how i keep my application in android market without facing copyright issues thanks in advance

[Zonath]

The photographer usually owns any copyright to pictures that he or she takes.  So, if you take pictures of a celebrity, then you own the copyright in those pictures.

However, the ways in which you can use or distribute those photographs are limited due to a separate (but somewhat-related) concept to copyright law, which is known variously as "publicity rights", "personality rights", and so on.  Basically, these are state-level laws which make it illegal to make commercial use of a person's likeness without their permission, typically with some exceptions for public interest reporting and such.  So, by placing an application with celebrity images on the Android market, and presumably profiting from that activity in whatever amount, you may be infringing upon that celebrity's publicity rights and may end up owing that celebrity quite a lot of money for your use of their likeness.

Additionally, it's a pretty dangerous thing to assume that, since other people and companies do more or less the same thing, you'll get a pass if you happen to get caught. 

[imx16]

there are many companies which uses celeb pics but they never get any claims while my app is just one man show and it is not quite famous but they took it why is that do they hire lawyer and fight and sting the lawsuit process  and win???

[Zonath]

You'll have to ask them.  We can only guess.

[imx16]

thanks for help is there any lawyer or person who can help me deal with these issues here?

[Kaitlin]

thanks for help is there any lawyer or person who can help me deal with these issues here?

Zonath's answer was a good one, if your question is about the legality of using the celebrity photos.