Are superhero pictures copyrighted?

[Akash]

Okay so we are planning to print some superhero pictures onto a T-shirt and sell them.
Can we download pictures found on Google and use them?
Or are they any copyrights that protect these images?

If we want to use these pictures on our T-shirts, how do we do it? Who do we ask permission?

Thanks
How do I check if the images found on Google are licensed as free?

[Dillon]

Yes. Unless they are licensed 'Creative Commons'.

[Mike]

They're copyrighted to the company/person who designed it or came up with the hero. You can legally earn money off the art if you contact the company/person personally and ask them permission to do so. Doing so without permission may end up getting you sued unless the art is licensed as `Free for all use' or `Creative Commons' or other sort of completely free, redistributable license.

[Sean]

uh yea why would they not be and only if you ask permission from the maker of the picture

[bcnu]

Not all images are copyrighted. Each one is different, depending upon when it was made and possibly who made it and whether it was published in the USA prior to 1989, etc. The link below lists the rules for when copyright expires in the USA.

Only works that were published prior to 1923 are certain to be without copyright, as are works created by the US government. You must assume EVERY other photo is copyrighted unless it falls under one or more of the listed rules for "public domain".

Note that works of foreign authorship can also be enforced under the foreign copyright laws of their country, which are guaranteed to have COMPLETELY different rules from those of the USA, at least for anything created prior to 1978.

http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm USA public domain