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Post Office owes $3.5M for using wrong Statue of Liberty on a stamp

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41–50 of 81 posts

Re: Post Office owes $3.5M for using wrong Statue of Liberty on a stamp

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn't imply that - in fact the opposite. It implies that the sculptor retained rights to imagery of the work.

Good point. I should have said--did the defense actually determine that the sculptor retained their copyright, given the work was commissioned by a casino.

That's normal for commissioned works. When you hire a contractor, by default they retain copyright over whatever they create.

https://copyright.uslegal.com/copyright-ownership/commission...

Re: Post Office owes $3.5M for using wrong Statue of Liberty on a stamp

#43
post #26
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IANAL...and this is specific to US Copyright law. Yes, it does, but doesn't necessarily grant copyright for the content of the photograph. I can sell a photograph of that statue, and be protected from copyright claims IF my work meets the Fair Use standard. I can also give you permission to use my photograph commercially. However you may not use it yourself commercially without permission of the statues copyright own…

This is why copyright is so messed up. If I take an photograph of a building designed by someone else, can I sell my photo freely?

Here's a list from Shutterstock of some items restricted: https://www.shutterstock.com/blog/contributor-resources/lega...

Re: Post Office owes $3.5M for using wrong Statue of Liberty on a stamp

#45
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is $3.5 million against a $70 million profit “ridiculous?”

Probably because if the original statue of liberty was used, it'd have made the same profit.

USPS does not make profit; they are bleeding for many years now (almost $6B in 2016 by GAAP standards)

https://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2017/pr17_069....

Not that it matters anyways; USPS is a private company.

Re: Post Office owes $3.5M for using wrong Statue of Liberty on a stamp

#47
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably because if the original statue of liberty was used, it'd have made the same profit.

USPS does not make profit; they are bleeding for many years now (almost $6B in 2016 by GAAP standards) https://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2017/pr17_069.... Not that it matters anyways; USPS is a private company.

No, it's not a private company. It's not even a government-owned corporation. According to US law[1], it's a part of the executive branch of the US government. If you're in the US, USPS debt is your debt.

[1]: https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/39/201

Re: Post Office owes $3.5M for using wrong Statue of Liberty on a stamp

#48
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Probably because if the original statue of liberty was used, it'd have made the same profit.

USPS does not make profit; they are bleeding for many years now (almost $6B in 2016 by GAAP standards) https://about.usps.com/news/national-releases/2017/pr17_069.... Not that it matters anyways; USPS is a private company.

> USPS does not make profit;

That's besides the point with respect to the comment you're responding, which is clearly about the profits from making and selling this stamp (rather than the USPS as a whole) -- and importantly, how the substance of this discussion (whether the stamp has a picture of the real or the fake Statue of Liberty) influence profits. Which I agree with grandparent that it probably doesn't, and why I think debating profits for the entire USPS isn't responsive to grandparent's comment (and why I find the awarded damages ridiculous in the first place).

In any case, for the sake of that argument, I think it's possible to discuss potential profits/losses from a single business activity/product without considering the gross profit for the entire company, organization or, in this case, government agency. Which leads to

> USPS is a private company.

No, it's not. "The United States Postal Service (USPS; also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service) is an independent agency of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the United States, including its insular areas and associated states. It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Postal_Service

> Not that it matters anyways

Really? Just because a business is private doesn't mean that it doesn't matter if it turns a profit or not. Sure from some extreme and strictly capitalist (and even then, very narrow) viewpoint this might be the case.

Personally I think it matters quite a bit what companies make a profit (and can continue to exist), whether they be private, public, government-owned, and whether or not I own part of it. We live in a world dominated by capitalism where the success or failure of companies influences societies tremendously. I hope that the companies that conduct business in a way I support will turn a profit, and I hope that companies doing the opposite will loose and die.

Equifax would be a perfect example of the latter: In the absence of some sort of government action to administratively dissolve the corporation (which is rare but in their case, as one of few I can think of, would be entirely appropriate), Equifax is a company I sincerely hope will never again turn a profit.

Re: Post Office owes $3.5M for using wrong Statue of Liberty on a stamp

#50
post #37
post #24

Have you seen the two faces side by side? https://tribzap2it.files.wordpress.com/2011/04/lady-liberty-... I quite prefer the original myself. The post office made an aesthetic as well as legal mistake. The older Lady Liberty is not as pretty, but she's more handsome. She's less symmetrical, more craggy. Her face has seen more pain and made more hard choices. I get an impression of character that I don't get from Vega…

Yeah, how cheesy that the US (the US!) post office used a Vegas statue instead of the one on Ellis Island. What were they thinking!?

American made versus a foreign import?
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