Is it illegal to take a picture of something like an Oreo? Stupid question, but I just want to make sure.

I AM NOT AN ATTORNEY. My opinion is listed below...

In regards to the aformentioned question, I would say that it depends on how you are going to use said photograph. If it's for your own personal use, then by all means...go for it!!

However, if you take said picture of a licensed, trademarked or copyrighted item and then utilized said photo for a purpose in order to sell it then I would say NO. Simply taking a photo of a person, company, brand, logo or the like does not afford you the right to sell merchandise featuring that photograph. There are two distinct intellectual property rights in a photograph: (1) the rights in the photograph itself and (2) the rights in the subject of the picture, such as the product or person shown in it. For example, if you take a photo of a car or celebrity, you only own the rights to the photo, but not the right to use the photo of a celebrity for merchandise sale. In order to sell merchandise with the image, you will need to obtain explicit permission from the celebrity.

Again, that's my personal thought and opinions.

Regards...

Heh, thanks. I was just planning on taking a picture of Teddy Grams and uploading it to the site, but I don't know if that violates anything...

Naw...go for it. You making any money off it for your post? I didn't think so.

Mo money, Mo money!!!

:)

im not a lawyer either, and i would read what hottrockin said and think that sounds pretty much right, but then i think about them celebrety photographers that take pictures of them walking down the street and print them in tabloids. Now im doubting that they have premission to do that from the person, so im not so sure there is any law against using someones face. I think in regards to an oreo though, the name and such is probably protected by law so that is different and it would be a copyright infridgment to use it to sell and such. Im not really sure. If i were you i would post the picture, and if it gets past the image mods great, if not, you know why.

:D Okay! Thanks. And yeah... I really need more money... but oh well!

That's what I was thinking as well: getting past the moderators. That sounds pretty good, though. If it is banned by them, then oh well. If not, yay!

Well .. Let's say a person sets up a classic "still life" photo involving a glass of milk and a plate of oreo cookies .. chances are pretty good that the 'logo' of the oreo wouldn't be visible

.. I'd be willing to bet that you could frame that and sell it for profit

As long as it is an implied image and no visual "logo" is present- it is within the law. Is anyone going to ask you what brand milk you photographed? I don't think so but the oreo cookie image is so universal they will know what it is without you breaking the law. It would be an implied image - so go for it. And no I am not a lawyer but I portray one to my children. :)

Once I tried to upload a picture of Disney's Mickey and Minnie sitting on a shelve in a toy store and little children pointing them out to their parents! I thought it was fun but my picture didn't make it through the mods because as it was explained to me, the characters are protected by copyright laws. It makes sense, I don't know if it's the same thing with an oreo though...

no matter how creative your work is, you will still need the permission from the subject or whoever owns the subject to release the photo, better still if the permission is explicitly given. it is also safer to make sure the owner or subject is aware of what you intend to do with the photo and who gets to see the photo (i.e. scope of distribution).

there was this famous case where a magazine got sued by a celebrity couple for the unauthorised release of their wedding photos .. you probably can find tons of old links on this on the internet

and here's one link that may be useful, see the section on "what works are protected by copyright?"
http://www.photolaw.net/faq.html

I believe the best way to solve this issue is to set up your own company to compete directly with Oreo, and put your own logo on the biscuits you produce; that way you can take as many photos of them as you like and use them in whatever manner you see fit! Of course, there is no guarantee that the image will receive a high vote or get moved to the perms, so it might not be worth the effort. Depends how dedicated you are to photography, I guess...

You can take a picture of anything you want as long as it is not an invasion of privacy or out of context and damaging to a persons welfare or reputation.

dammit!

I agree, you can take a picture of anything you want. My prior comment was in regards to the utilization of said picture.

Oh, what...maybe not anything...tell ya what. Go to Las Vegas, camera in hand..go into any casino and fire away. That'll get ya some attention!! MuHaHaHaHa!!!