Famous faces - can I use 'em?

Hey everyone, I've been following a few threads here and in another place lately concerning copyright. I just got some silk screen print style textures from a reputable texture merchant, but I don't know if I can use them, given that the images are of famous (mostly dead) people. We're talking Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Che Guevara, Elvis etc. The still living include Bob Dylan and Barrack Obama. So, hmm, can I put these textures onto t shirts and tote bags, or will LL whup my pixel arse? The texture merchant's terms are clear - use for your own creations, sell or give away said creations but not the textures themselves. I'd love to use them, but I don't want my customers getting missing images down the line. Some sound advice would be good - these may be images in the public domain, otherwise I haven't the time or inclination to search out every estate and ask! They will have to be foldered for the duration.

You can put my face on a shirt. Oh, wait, you already did.

Just an uneducated guess but, I don't think using Obama will cause any trouble, he is a politician after all, they never object to their faces being plastered all over the place. Besides, his face is on all sorts of wierd stuuf, from tennis shoes to chia pets. The rest of those dead people are seen al over the place too, I don't know if they are public domain or their rights holders don't care. Che' might be a problem, those commie bastards never give up, I bet Scylla owns him..........

Lol, Mr Obama wasn't my fave; I'd really like to use Jimmy Dean, Che - bless his cotton socks, Marilyn and Bob Marley.

Sounds like the stuff Andy Warhol did and that gets taken down if his name is used.He maybe dead but his wig is alive and well and suing.
Don't mention specific names and all should be well.

It's probably not so much a matter of whose face you use as it is of whose art.

If these are silk screens or other media then the artist who created them might have an issue with this, rather than the person they depicted.

Don't assume that the seller of the texture is actually a silk screen artist.

B.

In any event, rest assured that LL would most likely act hysterically inappropriately to the situation if it did become an issue.

Oh hooray - I have delved a bit further and the art is licensed from an artist on Deviantart - all is well and t shirts follow shortly!!

recheck the license. Dev art is usually non commercial. And if the dev art "artist" violated any laws then the violation migrates to you.

And you still can't use the names. LL removes content with names in the ad like Marilyn Monroe.

Try being original.

have a look here. there are some specific examples they use that might help you decide on the best course to take:
https://www.xstreetsl.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=22#branding

Do yourself a favor,
Wake up to your mind
Life is what you make it
You see, but still you're blind

Get yourself together,
Give before you take
You'll find out the hard way,
Soon you're gonna break
Hey hey hey

Smiling phases
Showing traces
Even if they bust you
Keep on smiling through and through
And you'll be amazed at the gaze
On their faces as they sentence you

You don't need a lawyer
When you're in a fix
Someone gets to pay up
Your friends are full of tricks
But happiness is something
That you just can't buy
Own up to the truth girl,
Your love has gone on by

Smiling Phases bring you flowers
You can line 'em up
And you can watch 'em grow for hours
And you'll be amazed at the way that they stare
as they walk by your door.


Do yourself a favor,
Wake up to your mind
Life is what you make it
You see, but still you're blind

Get yourself together,
Give before you take
You'll find out the hard way,
Soon you're gonna break
Hey hey hey

Smiling phases
Going Places
Even if they bust you
Keep on smiling through and through
And you'll be amazed at the gaze
On their faces as they sentence...you!!

Smiling Phases/Blood Sweat and Tears.

Yes, I'm familiar with how Deviantart works, my daughter has rather a lot of her stuff on there. I won't use the names of the people depicted - you'd want to have spent the 20th century in a box not to recognise them anyway.

Would a basement count?

No, you cant use "famous faces" willynilly. If you did that and it was my face I saw on your snitchy bod, I'd sue you till you wept.