Image misuse? (Part 2)

Source: http://www.panoramaresort.com

Talking about logos is getting to be a habit, but such is life. In the case of the Canucks it was the colours, here is it the people in the photos? (Or perhaps it is the people in the photos.)

Since 2004, I have been doing a 7-day mountain bike race, the TransRockies. Every year it has either started or finished in Fernie. In 2008 and 2009, it started at the Panorama Mountain Village, near Invermere, BC.

For 2010 and 2011, the race starts in Fernie and finishes in Canmore. (I know, I'm mixing tenses, but it will all make sense.)

Panorama has built some new XC bike trails and this year is the first year for a new race, the Gatorade BC Cup XC.

Now here is what is interesting. The riders in the picture were racing in the Transrockies in either 2008 or 2009, and Gatorade was not a sponsor of that race. (The beverage sponsor was Ultima.)

So, who owns those riders likenesses? Can Panorama use the photo because it was taken on their property? Does the image belong to the TransRockies because it is their race? The TransRockies gets a release from all riders to permit the use of their photos. Is that release transferable? Has it been transferred? Is this just way to complicated and bogged down in legal mumbo jumbo?

Well, perhaps, unless one of the riders objects and takes someone to court.

So, what is the lesson for marketers? Everyone is becoming much more vigilent about their intelectual property. You play "fast and loose" with copyright at your peril.