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[futureB]

hello guys! please enlighten me regarding my problem. i am starting my sports restobar and i want to use some images that can be found on the internet. i see some bars who uses pictures of famous athletes taken by photographers. i wonder if they asked permission to the owner or they just copied it on the internet and use it as display example is this image --  http://www.prana.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Sharma-FRFM-inspiration-Ali_Liston.jpg  -- . i have few more images to choose from but i want to know the legalities of the copyright law first.

thank you in advance

[artchain]

No, you can't

Images you find on the Internet are not "free to use."  In almost all cases, the copyright on the image is owned by someone.

Moreover, some right-holders are very aggressive about using automated software to find unlicensed copies, and takign aggressive action against offenders.

[futureB]

thank you! do you think the bar owner of HOF bought a copyright for them to use that same image that i posted on my first post? if yes i wonder how am i able to know who the real owner is? i already contacted some of the sports photographers but when it comes to vintage photos it is really difficult to know who to ask for permission

i see hundreds of that images all over the net and even on posters.

http://www.halloffame.co.in/Hall-of-Fame-Gallery.html

[artchain]

You're right, it can be hard, or even impossible, to track down the owner of an old photo. 

There are many stock photo houses that have wide selections of photos that you can legitimately license.  You might also check with sports museums. 

Note that photos before a certain date are in the public domain, and can be used legally.  You'll find information about the length of copyright protection here:

http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm

As far as all the photos you see on web sites, many are licensed and used legally.  Many more are not correctly licensed, and are being used illegally (and have gotten away with it so far).  In my opinion it's a very bad idea to expose your business to penalties by deliberately and knowingly violating copyright law.

[futureB]

thank you artchain!  honestly i cant quite understand the terms and conditions of what i wanted to use. could you please be helpful again in finding out whether the image that i want to use can be used legally using the website you posted. actually i will just display it and not going to use for reproduction and try to sell it. heres the picture http://students.cis.uab.edu/chased/ali1.jpg the real owner is still alive and his name is neil leifer he is still alive and the image was taken and published in 1965.

thanks you!