Hi there,

I`ve checked forum archives and didn`t find any prompts so I would ask for suggestion here:

I want to order custom guitar pedal from a small company in US. It would be one of a kind and is NOT intended to be reproduced in future (so no business here).

Actually it is intended to be dual-fuzz pedal (with "Laydown" and "Question of U" sound in mind).

And I do want to put an image of Prince on this pedal (preferably - painting in 20ten-style).

This is not a fan-craziness or desrespect to the Artist - I just feel it would look great with his image (or maybe Prince symbol itself).

As long as I always obey the law I assume one should get official permission from Prince management to do this (even though this is gonna be just personal order of guitar pedal).

Is there anybody who could share experience in such things or provide valuable contacts (PM).

Thanks in advance.

Best regards from Ukraine,

Denys

[Edited 6/26/11 14:08pm]

[Edited 6/26/11 14:08pm]

Ask Dr Funkenberry.

Spinlight said:

Ask Dr Funkenberry.

You mean there is a user on the prince.org with such name - or just contact somebody from Dr Funkberry site?

you're custom ordering a pedal for yourself and you just want to put a pic of him on it? why not just do it?

you'd need permission if you were selling them or if you were some famous musician where pics of you using the pedal could end up in print or on the internet.

if none of those things are going to happen, go ahead and order it.

you ask for permission if you were going to be selling these and then you'd have to give him a percentage of each pedal sold and even then he probably wouldn't approve it.

Don't ask, just steal the pic via the internet....

[img:$uid]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v67/ecnirp2004/Prince/Prince20Ten-2.jpg[/img:$uid]

then make it a tribute to him or something......

(I can't answer, I find your question a bit strange, cuz I am sure noone will have anything against a Pic of Prince on that pedal of yours).

ButterscotchPimp, thedance

This is rather a question from a guy I want to order pedal from...

He would built one-of-a-kind pedal for me and he will actually sell it to me (and I`ll pay for it for sure).

So he either is afraid that I`m from Prince campus or what to avoid any legal issues.

And it is important for him `cause his company is a well-known boutique pedal builder.

Anyway even using it for myself I assume I need to get a permission (or read official statement somewhere that I could use it for free). WT edition of Bible is not accepted here

But anyway - thanks for your input.

P.S. I imagine Prince could approve it only under condition that exactly the same pedal is delivered to Paisley Park (and my says FAKE )))))))))

Is there some kind of Freudian thing here, what with you wanting to repeatedly stomp on Prince's face?

NouveauDance said:

Is there some kind of Freudian thing here, what with you wanting to repeatedly stomp on Prince's face?

lol

Write to P.O. Box 4475, North Hollywood, CA 91607.

You can pay a site like Getty Images or Corbis a bunch of money to use one of their pictures. But I think you have to be a professional magazine or TV program to join.

Understandably, the pedal vendor would not want to use an unauthorized image, just as a reputable t-shirt vendor wouldn't, as it could cause legal issues that they don't need.

A professional airbrush artist could do this for a fee after the pedal is manufactured, or as stated above, you could buy single-use rights to an image of Prince that he doesn't himself own by going with a news agency or purchase it directly from one of the many photographers Prince has used in the past. They do sell the images on this basis.

Or... Do it yourself and print the appropriate sized decal or sheet, affix with glue and cover it in clear coat. That should stand up pretty well and if done correctly, will look great.

Contacting Prince or his staff is not going to bring the desired results, if any.

squirrelgrease said:

Understandably, the pedal vendor would not want to use an unauthorized image, just as a reputable t-shirt vendor wouldn't, as it could cause legal issues that they don't need.

A professional airbrush artist could do this for a fee after the pedal is manufactured, or as stated above, you could buy single-use rights to an image of Prince that he doesn't himself own by going with a news agency or purchase it directly from one of the many photographers Prince has used in the past. They do sell the images on this basis.

Or... Do it yourself and print the appropriate sized decal or sheet, affix with glue and cover it in clear coat. That should stand up pretty well and if done correctly, will look great.

Contacting Prince or his staff is not going to bring the desired results, if any.

NouveauDance said:

Is there some kind of Freudian thing here, what with you wanting to repeatedly stomp on Prince's face?

mzsadii said:

NouveauDance said:

Is there some kind of Freudian thing here, what with you wanting to repeatedly stomp on Prince's face?

LOL

No, as I said above nothing desrespectful to Prince.

Even more - the fuzz pedal itself would be launch by pressing a button manually.

But....if someday Prince would agree to singature any musical equpment - that idea could be applied to Limited Edition Sexy MF line ))))))))))))))))

What you're saying is on par with someone who would want to get a symbol tattooed on them. It's not like Prince is going to sue tattoo artists because they're using a copyrighted logo/symbol and making money off of it. It would be a first.

Just get it done if you want it.

When it comes to album art, it's up to whomever owns the artwork. A lot of album artists sell lithographs of iconic album covers, and I'm sure not all of them are paying the record company or artist a commission for something they created. All depends on the ownership. They might have sold their rights off, like Peter Blake did with the Sgt Pepper album cover photo.

try a different pedal maker

squirrelgrease said:

Understandably, the pedal vendor would not want to use an unauthorized image, just as a reputable t-shirt vendor wouldn't, as it could cause legal issues that they don't need.

A professional airbrush artist could do this for a fee after the pedal is manufactured, or as stated above, you could buy single-use rights to an image of Prince that he doesn't himself own by going with a news agency or purchase it directly from one of the many photographers Prince has used in the past. They do sell the images on this basis.

Or... Do it yourself and print the appropriate sized decal or sheet, affix with glue and cover it in clear coat. That should stand up pretty well and if done correctly, will look great.

Contacting Prince or his staff is not going to bring the desired results, if any.

This. Especially the last sentence.

I always try to get to the finish - even with negative outcome.

Anybody got email of his manager?

Prince isn't going to officially license reproduction of his image for a one off fan created item.

His management and attorneys don't have time to deal with it either.

If you make the official request - they'll deny it, simply because you asked. Nobody would ask unless they were planning on mass producing them.

What you're doing is fan art.

You're not going to profit, so going and getting permission is just a fans way of feeling like they're doing something important that requires approval. Nobody will approve this. They'll send you a cease and desist letter instead. If Prince wanted his image on a stomp box or fuzz pedal, he'd be selling it himself. In your case, it's no different than someone putting a Prince sticker on their guitar case, or painting a mural of Prince hugging a cave bear on the side of their van.

To answer your other question, the licensing of a photo image comes from the copyright holder, and you would contact the photographer, or whoever reps them. They can sell the photo, but they normally don't have the right to license his image for something like mass produced lunch boxes, or custom made gear either. The fee at a place like Getty Images would start at $600 for non commercial use. They're not going to automatically give you permission to reproduce it outside of standard mediums, like print, or film. Don't bother even thinking about it. You're doing a personal project. Keep it personal. Don't involve people who make a living licensing this stuff.

Add the image after the pedal gets made.

treehouse said:

Prince isn't going to officially license reproduction of his image for a one off fan created item.

His management and attorneys don't have time to deal with it either.

If you make the official request - they'll deny it, simply because you asked. Nobody would ask unless they were planning on mass producing them.

What you're doing is fan art.

You're not going to profit, so going and getting permission is just a fans way of feeling like they're doing something important that requires approval. Nobody will approve this. They'll send you a cease and desist letter instead. If Prince wanted his image on a stomp box or fuzz pedal, he'd be selling it himself. In your case, it's no different than someone putting a Prince sticker on their guitar case, or painting a mural of Prince hugging a cave bear on the side of their van.

To answer your other question, the licensing of a photo image comes from the copyright holder, and you would contact the photographer, or whoever reps them. They can sell the photo, but they normally don't have the right to license his image for something like mass produced lunch boxes, or custom made gear either. The fee at a place like Getty Images would start at $600 for non commercial use. They're not going to automatically give you permission to reproduce it outside of standard mediums, like print, or film. Don't bother even thinking about it. You're doing a personal project. Keep it personal. Don't involve people who make a living licensing this stuff.

Add the image after the pedal gets made.