this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2023
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The Trump campaign may have violated United State copyright law by selling merchandise featuring the former president’s mugshot, legal experts have warned.

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[–] [email protected] 92 points 1 year ago (2 children)

"Never surrender"

Isn't that exactly what he did in order for that photo to be taken? 🤔

[–] [email protected] 50 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Its always been his entire schtick. Look at reality, declare the opposite, trailer parks in kentucky erupt into cheers, repeat

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago (1 children)

He could lamp a nun in the clunge and his people would cheer. The flies have picked a shit; now they like what he does because it's him rather than liking him because of what he does.

It's what you get for turning elections into sports matches.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago

Thanks for my new username. [email protected]

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

I wonder if the writers for Galaxy Quest could sue him too! 😀

[–] [email protected] 78 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Mugshot merchandise being sold by him is insane. I hate this timeline.

[–] [email protected] 56 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The former president of America is selling merch of his own mugshot for a RICO felony racketeering charge, for stuff he allegedly did while he was the sitting president. That is a thing that is actually happening right now.

By the time this is all resolved, we might even have and answer to the question: can a president lose an election, organize a coup to overturn that election, get legitimately re-elected in the next election, then pardon himself for sedition for the election he tried to overturn?

Like it's a long shot, but the fact that it's even remotely possible to watch that play out for real is fucking wild.

[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Like it's a long shot

Is it though? I thought him winning in 2016 was impossible. I’m not sure of anything anymore.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

People buying it is even weirder

[–] [email protected] 56 points 1 year ago (5 children)

You hate to defend Trump, but that's absolutely fucked. As far as I know you can't refuse a mugshot, so you're essentially compelled to release the rights to your likeness if you're charged with a crime. I could see the logic if you're convicted (under the 13th, which is still fucked), but that's crazy before a trial/guilty verdict.


Anyway, just a layman's take. Would love to hear what an actual lawyer has to say.

[–] [email protected] 54 points 1 year ago (3 children)

People generally don't have rights to photos of them regardless of whether they consented to having them taken. That's, like, the whole thing with paparazzi.

US copyright law is unsalvageably fucked

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

IMO the difference between this and paparazzi is that you aren't legally compelled to allow the paparazzi to take photos of you. If paparazzi gets the photos then they're theirs, but you can at least try to prevent them from taking them.


US copyright law is unsalvageably fucked

Yes

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 year ago (3 children)

“You’re prohibited from reproducing it, making a derivative work of it, distributing it without authorization, or that is to say distributing anything that isn’t the one copy you already lawfully have, and various other things. Making a public display of it, making a public performance of it, which opens up all kinds of fascinating possibilities here.”

Am I crazy or does this mean every single newspaper that has reproduced the photo (i.e. probably the majority of political newspapers in the entire world) should have asked Fulton county Sheriff's Office for permission to do it?

[–] [email protected] 27 points 1 year ago (2 children)

'Fair use' is a thing. It varies by country, and I'm not certain on where the US falls.

Selling copies on merchandise would definitely not be fair use.

Using it in news articles may be fair use under some circumstances, but probably only if you were commenting specifically on the mugshot.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

News articles can use media for 'editorial' purposes which has a slightly different usage rights subset to 'commercial' purposes which tend to be much more tied down. Having said that, I would have thought that seeing it's his own mugshot and that it wasn't taken by professional creative photographer and that it was forced upon him and released to the public domain, that he would be entitled to use it as he sees fit. It's a picture of himself after all.

This almost feels like he's being picked on because he's so widely hated and that many people want to see him burn.

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

First of all, there is the fair use thing, and second, they probably have, and most likely there is even a clause in the Sheriff's Office' standard disclaimer that press use is OK.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

mugshots. com needs to be sued out of existance.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (4 children)

The copyright is not with the person on the photo, it is with the photographer. Which in this case is the police department.

The only rights that Trump had were the rights on his own picture. Which is hard to control as a celebrity (public interest and such), and which he basically waived as he had those merch sold himself.

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[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (8 children)

I understand what you're saying, and normally I would agree with you.

However, when Trump was mad at Twitter, he pushed hard to revoke Section 230, which protects social media platforms from the content their users post.

Interestingly, he stopped caring about this as soon as he started his own social media platform, which he tried his best to steal without attribution from Mastodon.

Now he is selling an image he does not own the copyright on. He can get fucked.

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[–] [email protected] 44 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Anything the government produces should be in the public domain.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I thought that was the case

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[–] [email protected] 37 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Trumps attorney: "Try not to break any laws on the way to the parking lot."

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

His lawyer wasn’t even supposed to be there, that day.

[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 year ago (15 children)

I hate that a shitty picture taken as part of legal proceedings is copyrightable. Just like research paid for by the government should be free and unencumbered, so should things produced by the government itself.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I think the reason for this copyright is so nobody can massively shame the convinced. But nobody thought anyone would be proud about it so much to share it themselves.

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[–] [email protected] 33 points 1 year ago (1 children)

like he gives a flying fuck

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[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Good. Copyright violations for commercial gain are one of the most mindlessly over-penalized issue in the books. This time, it could actually used for good. Making millions out of copyright violations in the US is probably next to gang rape and mass murder.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Copyright laws are usually just abused by corporations to endlessly milk profit and hinder small time artists and creators. I don't think it's comparable to gang rape.

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (3 children)

I almost want Trump to bite it just so I don't have to see any more of these headlines made by people salivating over an imprisonment that's just never going to happen.

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[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

Has anyone else ever, in history, released a merchandising line 5 secs after their mugshot process thing?

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

So throw a civil suit at him. I'm sure the taxpayers of Fulton County won't mind paying for a 10-year court case and appeals.

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 year ago

May have? The dude violates humanity by breathing. Fucking launch that pissfart into the sun and let’s be done with him.

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I really can’t believe that he was a former president and “leader” of the most powerful military that ever existed.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

It is insane how one clown could cause so much havoc, not even a bright one at that

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

I think the problem is, that the system was set up on the assumption that you'd have to be a semi-reasonable person to end up as president. Like there are checks an balances set up to reign in your dictators and evil genius types, but they didn't really account for a complete moron getting in there and just running hog wild.

It's a bit like setting up a really elaborate security system to catch any kind of sneaky burglar, and then someone just flattens your house with a tank for no reason.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

Wow they found enough idiots to buy that dumb shit to make $7 million?

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

At this point, I'd be more shocked if some dumbass thing he does isn't breaking a law.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Didn't Geeen Day also sell t-shirts with his mugshot? Sounds like they broke copyright law as well, then.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 1 year ago

They put "Nimrod" over his face to resemble their album, so that very likely falls under fair use as parody.

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