Forum

[emorhail]

Hi there,

I ´ve got a short question here. A couple of weaks ago Mark and
some other guys from the webinars assured that there is nothing wrong
with choosing a pen name for your niche in order to maintain privacy
(esp. when u re in several niches...).

Now I wonder if adding a picture which is not mine to the publishers
name would be unethical or even a legal issue? What is your opinion
regarding this?

Thanks in advance

kind regards
Enrico

 

[gradyp]

Enrico,

I'm not a lawyer, and not very knowledgeable about these things, but I'm pretty sure that if it is a cartoon figure (or something similar) that you drew or had drawn for you, that there is no problem. Using someone else's likeness and claiming it as your own is different, so I would check out what can and can't be done with a lawyer there (or at least someone who knows these things better than I do).

Hope this helps somewhat.

Grady

 

[wollowra]

Hi Enrico,
I would usually advise against this.
I don't know if it is Illegal or not but most stock photo sites state you cannot use any of their people pictures as if they were endorsing a product.
I also think you will find that Models etc, will want a very hefty fee to use their likeness endorsing any product.
So, best to just use the pen name in my opinion.
Why run the risk of some legal issues down the track. Play it safe with this one.
Regards
Troy

 

[emorhail]

Thank u guys so much for your quick response. Basically I feel just like you about this, just grabbing an image might put me in an awkward situation very easily. The thing is that I´ve got a little fitness website including mlm and some kind of personal character would really help. Just like Grady said, maybe it would be a good idea to implement a cartoon figure and I should be on the safe side...

Anyway I just sent an email to the stock photo company to check if there´s some license covering this usage. I´ll keep u informed, if there´s some positiv response.

thanks again
Enrico

 

[tdigitty]

Ask one of your friends if they would mind...might work. The chances of someone they know seeing there pic is probably pretty slim.

 

[Ludmilla]

On Paint.net you can change your photo to a drawing (oil or ink), I personally use these images, after it was changed a bit I feel more comfortable, but at the same time it's me.
See if it'll work for you as well.