Need Permission to Sell Photos from Blue Angels Airshow?

<p>Hello! I recently attended a Blue Angel's airshow and have had some interest in buying some of my images. Do I need permission to sell the images I captured (digital files or prints)? Any help is much appreciated. </p>

<p>Since they are part of the military which is taxpayer funded and it's a public peformance, I wouldn't think there are any restrictions. </p>

Mike is correct, but I can think of a situation in which you might indeed own the images but be restricted from selling them. This is a stretch and probably not applicable, but if the air show was run by a private company and you purchased a ticket, part of your license agreement might have been that the company has exclusive rights to sell images from the event. Even if that is the case, I doubt the company could enforce such a restriction. If it was a public event, sell as many as you can without fear of anything.

<p>Blue Angel air shows are free. You might pay for a *better* seat at the air show, but the flying is a recruiting tool ... and for the visitors, free.</p>

<p>Dealing with the Federal government can be fun. The <em>might-be-customer</em> for your images would (hopefully) be something family oriented in nature. A company making Blue Angel one-shot drinks in a can, as a poor example, might not be a good choice. The Department of Defense (which the US Navy is part of) has a whole group of lawyers to offer their view if your sale offends some admiral or general officer.</p>

<p>Some automobile dealers in Pensacola (home of the Blue Angels at NAS Pensacola) have Blue Angel flight footage in a commercial once in awhile, but it could be that the auto dealer makes a contribution to a Navy charity, making everyone happy.</p>

<p> </p>

<p>The sale is unlikely to make them unhappy. A use that implies Navy or government endorsement without permission could make them very unhappy - it's the context and use, not the picture itself. </p>

<p>Craig is right: sure you can sell the images, but NOT for commercial use. You can sell them to visitors, families, people who want to print posters. But you would be in VERY deep water if you try to sell it to a company for use on a product or to advertise a service. UNLESS of course, they can remove ALL visible logos and insignia...but even then I wouldn't try it...</p>

Tom, this is not likely to make you happy, but any citizen can go to www.navy.mil or www.af.mil and download thousands of high-resolution, public domain images of the Blue Angels or Thunderbirds. The free downloads are of sufficient quality to make large prints. No copyright issues because the images were captured by government photographers.

Jerry, my folks used to live on Pensacola Bay right across the bay from the Blue Angels' winter practice airport. I'm guessing Navy officials in Pensacola would consider photos/footage of the Blue Angels to be a landmark, much like the Empire State Building or Mount Rushmore. I doubt a local business in Pensacola would encounter problems with the Navy for using Blue Angels footage. Just an educated guess.

<p>From my experiences in the media & film industry, just about all federal government produced media such as photos or video is public domain provided it's not classified. You'll notice on the Blue Angels website (or any other US military or fed sponsored website for that matter) that nothing has a copyright and their high res photos, screensavers, etc are freely downloadable w/o any restrictions. <br>

There are also tons of stock BA photos out there on the web available for licensing, so not much difference between them and Tom.</p>

<p>Yes, it's OK to sell, but they can't be used in such a way as to imply that the Blue Angels are endorsing, sponsoring, or otherwise associated with how (or by whom) the image is being used. I assume the Blue Angels are covered by a trademark and or logo / name protection just like NASA. To get an idea, you can look on the NASA site for their guidelines. If you follow them, you're probably good.</p>

<p>To properly answer your question I would recommend you contact the Blue Angels Public Affairs department in Pensacola Florida at 850-452-2583 or e-mail the Blue Angels Public Affairs department at <a href="mailto:bapao@navy.mil">bapao@navy.mil</a><br>

Wayne</p>