Copyrights and Mugshots
Q: Is a mugshot copyrighted? For example, if my news agency were to take a mugshot that was posted on a competitor’s website… is that copyright infringement?
A: All photographs are protected by copyright except photographs created by the US government. So, technically, mug shots from local law enforcement are copyrighted.
In addition, the competitor has a copyright in its web site. Taking content from the competitor’s web site could be copyright infringement.
Finally, there is a doctrine of “hot news misappropriation,” under which taking content from a competitor may result in liability under state law (for misappropriation of your competitor’s content) in addition to or instead of copyright infringement.