Can I sell a photo that was taken on private property in Colorado??????

Hi all,
I was recently in the United States skiing (Colorado)and I took a photograph that I think will be worth something. I was wondering what the State Law says about people taking photos on private property. The ski field let me on the mountain to ski, but not sure if they would let me sell a photo. I think it may be a photo that they would want for themselves ( seriously).
Any advice is welcome
Cheers

Just off the top of my head I'm thinking you'd probably need to obtain a Property Release from them if you intend to make a profit with the photo.

Private property, yup, better check with them... CYA ....

JS

Sure, in a perfect world, getting a property release would be the best bet. But let me ask you: is your shot uniquely identifyable as being shot on their property? IOW, does it show features and/or structures or signs that are particular to that place?

If so, you may have a problem skirting their permission. If not, and it is simply a nicely scenic but generic-looking spot, you're probably fine.

thankyou ALL for your responses to my question. I have contacted the ski mountain to ask them for all the relevant information.
I will wait to see what they say.
As you may be able to tell, I am inexperienced with this kind of stuff.
I am worried that if the ski mountain see's this photograph, they will try and steal it from me. It really is a money earner. Put it this way, it was a sunrise shot with a rainbow PERFECTLY wrapped around the sun as it just rose above the horizon. It is also a panoramic.

I am also worried that if I cannot gain permission from the ski mountain, the photo will go to waste. So many people will want to buy this shot. So does it mean if I cannot gain permission from them, I cannot sell the photo?????????

To answer Asylum steves Q. Yes it has a sign in the photo that relates to the ski mountain. it is easily identified to many skiers.

I also forgot to add that I was actually an employee for the ski mountain. I was employed as a chef in a restuarant on top of the mountain. Hence this is how I obtained this photo.
Thankyou all for your responses. Highly appreciated.

Sounds like you're already going through proper channels. More often than not, that's the right path to take.

What ever you do, do not show them the pic. Yet. I would keep the discussions fairly general and generic. IOW, find out simply what you need to do to be able to sell a photo that you took on their property.

If they ask to see shots, maybe show them some of the other pics you took. Perhaps good outtakes, but not the special shot.

It may turn that they'll give you a basic property release without much hassle, and hopefully it will cover WHATEVER you shoot there.

If it were me, I would wait until I had gotten the necessary permission, and only THEN show them the rainbow image. Heck, I'd even try to see if they were interested in purchasing publishing rights to use the photo for their resort.

Yes, according to the Media Law Handbook for Canadian journalists and photographers and I should point out that copyright and journalist/photography laws tend to be very similar from country to country because of treaties that are often involved and the cross border nature of media.

Unless you are unreasonably invading someone's personal privacy, you can even take a photo while trespassing and use it. You may be charged with tresspassing in an extreme situation but that does not negate your right to use the photo or the video/film.

To mention history and the international nature of the above right, photographers invaded a private Greek island of Onnasis and shot photos of Jacquie Kennedy nude sunbathing.
They were definitely trespassing, but the photos showed up in all kinds of magazines.

Ronnoco

Well most ski area land is not private actually. It's national forest land and is leased to the ski area for lift access. Now whether the lease allows extra extra rights, I don't know but the rules for taking pix on public land are pretty clear which basically says you don't need a permit if it's not a large production (IE, lots of equipment, models, etc). Incidental photos are acceptable.

I'd even approach the resort and offer them a print for sale.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by lidarman

Well most ski area land is not private actually. It's national forest land and is leased to the ski area for lift access.

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What ski area was the photo taken on? Lidarman is in Colorado and can probably tell you if it's private property. There are almost no ski areas in the Western US that are on private property. So it would be my non-expert opinion that you can do whatever you want with the photo.

I have some contact with some pro ski photographers. I'll see if I can get them to post a reply on this subject.

Steve,

You mentioned a "Property Release." What exactly is that? Is there such a form somewhere that I can print easily? Or is it a deal where my attorneys have to call their attorneys and the expense of it all negates the idea?

thanks,
Ron

Here is an example I found on the Net. You may need to modify this.

http://www.alamy.com/contributors/Al...lease-form.pdf

Roger