Pay attention, photographers! Fun for-profit holiday photos could get you in trouble with the law if you are not careful with well-known characters.
Holiday-themed photo shoots using pop culture icons like Dr. Seuss’s The Grinch could be subject to copyright law violations. One such case happened for an Arkansas photographer doing “Grinchmas” photo sessions that gained popularity until lawyers told the photographer to stop. This included intellectual property from social media as well.
“Number one, make sure you’re not just lifting things off the internet. Just because you see it online doesn’t make it free. Number two, always use the knockoff thing. The thing that doesn’t look exactly like the character you’re looking to use.”
Kristen Roberts- Founder and Managing Attorney of Trestle Law
Companies such as Seuss Enterprises and Disney are known to bring in lawyers to prevent this from happening.