Using an image from a hotel....

[Jaggz]

If I was a guest of a hotel, and took some photos of the property while staying there... could I use the photos in say a "photo contest" without having a copyright release for them? I would love to submit the following photo in a few contests but I wasn't sure of the legality. Thanks for your help!



and

[Debbi]

I think it would depend on the propery. Some buildings are copyrighted. Beautiful pics by the way.

[jerrykr]

Those two look like pictures of boats on a lake, that happen to have a few buildings in the background.

Beautiful shots.

Personally I wouldn't worry too much about it, unless the contest had strict entry rules requiring releases.

[DeLeon]

Not much to offer except to say beautiful shots!
Where is this hotel?

[Jaggz]

I believe that one of the contest that I was hoping to enter this in has a statement saying something along the lines of a release for copyright, blah, blah, blah....will be required if selected as the winner for that catagory.

Anyhow...the hotel is in Orldano, FL...The Portafino Bay.
LINK

[ShutteredEye]

If you took those images from a public walkway, I think they'd have a hard time coming after you...

[Gabby498]

Jake, the release of copyright you mention sounds like they are asking you to release your copyright of the image to them rather than asking for a property or model release.

As mentioned, if you were not on the hotel property at the time you made the photographs it is unlikely that there is a problem with entering the photograph into a contest.

[Jaggz]

I think I'll give it a go and see what happens....kinda jumping the gun here assuming I'm gonna win! I believe the kicker is that the only view to this side of the building is from private property....so I couldn't use the whole public place part.

[CaptainTom]

I wouldn't worry about it. As long as the photos doesn't depict the property in a negative way there would be no basis for any action.

[J Eddington]

Why hot just shoot the hotel an email and ask them if it is ok to enter the photo in the contest, (the brain just kicked in) Never mind enter first, then ask permission AFTER you win!

[Teddington]

I've been there and didn't recognize it. You probably won't have a problem BUT keep in mind that the owner of this property (I think) is Disney! They tend to copyright everything.

[suzyjazz]

Originally Posted by J Eddington

Why hot just shoot the hotel an email and ask them if it is ok to enter the photo in the contest, (the brain just kicked in) Never mind enter first, then ask permission AFTER you win!

If you were on hotel property, I would think twice about doing this. If you ask a hotel representative, I bet they'd tell you No period from the premise of you potentially making a profit (winning cash/prizes), but I think that only matters if you took the picture from hotel property or if the building has copyright protection. Buildings after a particular date can have copyright protection. If you don't win I don't think they'd care at all. I think some photo contests require you to have a release of the subject matter to cover their own a$$ when they use it in their own campaign.

[jeffkohn]

The public versus private property doesn't really come into play here. That has more to do with taking pictures of people, and the fact that people have a reasonable expectation of privacy when they're not in public. (And even in that case, the definition of public has to do with whether a place is open and accessible to the general public, not so much who owns the property).

If you were on private property, then the property owner could restrict your activities if they so chose, by telling you not to take photographs. But if they allow you to take photographs, they don't really have any say in what you do with them after the fact (unless you enter into some sort of contract/agreement with them).

Somebody mentioned that buildings can be copyrighted. But the law explicitly lists photography as being exempt from this. The purpose of building copyrights is to keep Company A from contructing a bulding just like the one Company B designed and built, not to keep people from taking pictures of buildings. (That said, taking pictures of sculptures or other artwork in front of a building could get you into troube).