First of all, I'd just like to say the new forums look great. This website and the community has been great to me with all my dumb web questions!

Would anyone happen to know what the deal is with copyright issues on photography that's not my own? More specifically, I'm making a website for an author who just wrote a book on Woodward and Bernstein (the jounalists who worked on Watergate), so I've been searching google for images of Woodward and Bernstein and have found many. Would it be illegal for me to just use any photograph I find of them? Are the laws different in my case? Anyone who knows anything about this sorta legal stuff and can help me out would be a great help.

Thanks!

Short answer, yes . . . ask the author to ask his lawyer and get a release for yourself before you do anything with copyrighted images.

You could (try too) check if there are pictures of them that are free to use... One example here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Tv_Bob-..._1jun05_150.jpg . There are also archives with free press images and such. Alas I don't find any URLs now.

thanks for the suggestions both of you. jim, im not too keen on legal stuff so what exactly would that mean "get a release" for myself?

pandy, i need high resolution images, so unfortunately the ones on wikipedia wont work for me. i didnt have any luck finding any free press images on woodward and bernstein either. thanks anyway.

This happens all the time in the sound recording business and you (the studio) can be held liable for using copyright material. A letter of release from your client merely protects you if anything happens. IOW cover your *beep*-ets

So if my client says "jim I'd like to use the music off this record for this video i'm producing, it's just a little thing no one will ever know" . . . I'd diplomatically say "sure bob, but would you mind giving me a letter absolving me of any responsibility for using it, and taking responsibility for it yourself".

It's standard operating procedure. Your client if they're professional shouldn't mind. If they object then I'd say "I'm not going to be the one held responsible for it".

the other option is to licence an image.

take this one for instance you could contact the owner of the copyright and ask them if you could use it. They may not let you, they may let you, they may want a fee to let you.
Often (again my experience is with music) if it is for a non-profit or low budget use, the copyright holders may licence it to you for an agreeable term.

Check this page, they have a form to request the use of images
this page