Legal to print your own movie posters?

[slackerinabox]

This is pretty goofy but why not ask - I'm redoing my man cave and along with a new coat of paint I thought I'd get some movie posters, to keep my movie viewing theme going.. Framed posters are ridiculously expensive, the 4 I'll need will cost more than my tv. Since this is for completely personal use, would printing $45 custom canvases be an FBI door knocking worthy offense, or is it no big deal? Places like snap fish clearly state that you must own the copyright, but even for personal/home use?

 

[Sho'Nuff]

This is pretty goofy but why not ask - I'm redoing my man cave and along with a new coat of paint I thought I'd get some movie posters, to keep my movie viewing theme going.. Framed posters are ridiculously expensive, the 4 I'll need will cost more than my tv. Since this is for completely personal use, would printing $45 custom canvases be an FBI door knocking worthy offense, or is it no big deal? Places like snap fish clearly state that you must own the copyright, but even for personal/home use?

<--- IP attorney, but not your attorney

Assuming you live in the U.S. - if the hypothetical movie posters in question are copyrighted (which they probably are) - and you do not own a license to reproduce said posters (which you likely do not) - reproducing them for any use (except fair use, which is a limited exception that probably does not apply in the hypothetical situation) is a violation of federal copyright law. There are stiff (mostly financial) penalities for copyright violations. Many/most people who disregard copyright law do not get caught, but those who do are usually not pleased with the ultimate outcome.

FYI - the bulk of the cost of a framed movie poster is usually the frame, not the poster per se. If you want to steal from someone (and that is what ignoring someone's copyright is), steal from the thieves who charge ridiculous money for framing a picture.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Places like snap fish clearly state that you must own the copyright, but even for personal/home use?

When you have somebody else print it for you, they're the ones that can get in trouble (since they're ripping off somebody else's work for a profit.)

The customer is unimportant.

 

[Brainonska511]

Why not just get posters from one of the many internet poster shops and frame them yourself? The most expensive part of buying a framed movie poster is probably the frame.

 

[Printer Bandit]

which posters do you want? i'm sure we can draw them to the best of our abilities.

 

[UncleWai]

Rule of thumb, if you have to ask, it is probably illegal.

 

[motsm]

I have some original studio movie posters in wood frames from FrameUSA.com, I think their "Corporate" line. They were the most reasonably priced frames I could find for the quality, and I would gladly buy more from them if I ever needed to. They were on sale at the time, and got a mix of 27 x 40" / 41" for around $40 each including shipping, though they look to be a bit more expensive right now. They are all inclusive, so they have backing and a polystyrene front, which looks just like glass in my experience. If you were going the reprint route however, you could get 24 x 36" posters, which would make everything cheaper. Anyway, It's an option if you would prefer it over canvas.

I am curious though, what posters are you looking at?

 

[biostud]

Buy cheap frames in IKEA.

 

[ImpulsE69]

I'm calling shens. Real man caves don't have frames, they use scotch tape.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Probably not legal, but screw the system. I'd do it anyway, just don't get it done at an actual print press or they might refuse or might even report you (probably have to by law).

Heck if you have a legally obtained poster it's probably illegal to have it in a room where other people might see it. When it comes to IP laws, pretty much everything is illegal. Heck, it's illegal to watch the superbowl on a TV larger than 55". IP laws are the most stupid ever, yet, the most powerful.

 

[Jeff7]

Rule of thumb, if you have to ask, it is probably illegal.

There are some things that are quite astonishing to find that they are legal, though many of them belong in P&N. Plenty of it only applies if your net worth is at or beyond the high 8-digit realm.

 

[T9D]

https://chaturbate.com/female-cams/

 

[Carson Dyle]

the 4 I'll need will cost...

"Need"?

It's simple: It's your man cave. Nobody but yourself should EVER set foot in your man cave. Everyone knows that. As soon as they do and they set eyes upon your necessary pirated posters, you'll be in violation of more then 100 US and international copyright laws and could spend a couple years in prison and pay tens of thousands of dollars in fines.

 

[Sulaco]

This is pretty goofy but why not ask - I'm redoing my man cave and along with a new coat of paint I thought I'd get some movie posters, to keep my movie viewing theme going.. Framed posters are ridiculously expensive, the 4 I'll need will cost more than my tv. Since this is for completely personal use, would printing $45 custom canvases be an FBI door knocking worthy offense, or is it no big deal? Places like snap fish clearly state that you must own the copyright, but even for personal/home use?

Which movies? I have a handful of movie posters in my house, bought them all on eBay for a few bucks each.
Like the posters above said, it's the frame ultimately that costs more.

Search eBay or even google "Movie X poster" and see what pops up. If it's even a reasonably well-known film or films, chances are it will be much cheaper and less hassle to just buy it on eBay.

 

[sdifox]

chances are printing your own cost more than buying one.

 

[MarkXIX]

If you have a "man cave" then you should be man enough to build your own frames and just purchase the posters from any number of poster websites on the internet.

Otherwise, just admit that it's NOT a man cave and that you're just catering to your wife's demands for a movie room that doesn't have beer bottles and cables running in the open everywhere.

 

[Newell Steamer]

I think you should be fine.

Also, the cost of what you are looking for is so high, because of the frame, not the actual poster.

Example:
Matrix movie poster is @ $16; http://www.amazon.com/27x40-Poster-S...0+Inches+frame
Frame for the movie poster is @ $30; http://www.amazon.com/27x40-Poster-S...0+Inches+frame

So, ~ $46 if you were to go at this by yourself,.. without tax and shipping.

 

[M0oG0oGaiPan]

not really into movie posters but i do like the mondo posters. especially the ones by olly moss.

he's actually ok if you print off duplicates of his work for personal use. you lose some of the detail though.
http://www.reddit.com/r/geek/comments/szcim/people_on_ebay_sell_these_for_300_i_found_hires/
http://www.reddit.com/r/StarWars/comments/1wvy9p/i_recreated_olly_moss_iconic_star_wars_posters_as/

canvas is definitely going to be cheaper. costco does cheap poster prints. something like 18x36. can pick up cheap frames from michaels. as long as you don't do a custom frame/matte it shouldn't be too expensive. you could also go to a thrift store and pick up an older frame for cheap. As long as you stick to a standard print size, you should be straight.

 

[DrPizza]

<--- IP attorney, but not your attorney

Assuming you live in the U.S. - if the hypothetical movie posters in question are copyrighted (which they probably are) - and you do not own a license to reproduce said posters (which you likely do not) - reproducing them for any use (except fair use, which is a limited exception that probably does not apply in the hypothetical situation) is a violation of federal copyright law. There are stiff (mostly financial) penalities for copyright violations. Many/most people who disregard copyright law do not get caught, but those who do are usually not pleased with the ultimate outcome.

FYI - the bulk of the cost of a framed movie poster is usually the frame, not the poster per se. If you want to steal from someone (and that is what ignoring someone's copyright is), steal from the thieves who charge ridiculous money for framing a picture.

Since the posters are generally printed on paper, would copying them onto canvas, while retaining the original paper copy, be considered an allowable transfer from one medium to another. I.e., like owning a record and recording it onto a cassette?

But, I don't know where you're going to get it printed on canvas, unless you can do it yourself. If a professional photographer takes a photo of you, and snapfish realizes it's a professional photo, they will not print it unless you can prove the photographer sold you the rights.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

I've been wondering this about band posters. I don't care about myself, but if the printing company could get in trouble for printing them.

 

[ElFenix]

If you have a "man cave" then you should be man enough to build your own frames and just purchase the posters from any number of poster websites on the internet.

Otherwise, just admit that it's NOT a man cave and that you're just catering to your wife's demands for a movie room that doesn't have beer bottles and cables running in the open everywhere.

the term "man cave" is inherently unmanly so, no, he shouldn't be.

 

[Anubis]

people have been doing this on AVS for a while, getting images/posted printed on acoustic treatments. im not sure what the did about the legality because some people have movie posters printed

 

[mmntech]

the term "man cave" is inherently unmanly so, no, he shouldn't be.

Man cave is the politically correct way of saying "my wife wears the pants, owns the house, and I'm confined to the basement like a teenager."

It's not legal but I don't think the cops are going to come knocking down your door for printing out a few posters. Now if you were selling them, that would be a different story.

There are plenty of shops though that do sell high quality prints for not a lot of money. I'd start with comic stores. Might as well just buy those and get them framed.

 

[Anubis]

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/19-de...inted-movie-poster-acoustic-panels-cheap.html

 

[KlokWyze]

I'm dreaming of a future in which terms like "man cave" are a thing of the past.