In the US psrt of the FCC rules state that the air waves are free. All this really means is your local broadcaster can't send your house a bill just because you are in range of the signal.It doesn't even give you the right to tape network shows though this is done all the time. There are a lot of things that are Illegal but still customary. For instance, adultery has been illegal on the books in Tennessee since 1900 something. There have been thousands of divorces citing adultery but not one has been procecuted for adultery. Without adultery being illegal however you might as well claim you are divorcing because the person is left handed or blond.

Let's look at  a current situation. If you look at the BestBuy circular the majority of TV sets have an image of the movie District 9. This is fine for Sony TV's.Sony also owns the studio that made the movie. What about the Panasonic and Toshiba sets? The Samsung LED TVs have the little hummingbird image but even their regular sets have District 9.

It seems quite reasonable that Sony could sue Panasonic, Toshiba,and Samsung for using It's movie to sell TV's.Ther reverse is actually true. Sony paid BestBuy to place District 9 images on as many TV's as possible in order to promote the movie. The Samsung LED sets have their own trademarked hummingbird so were left alone.

So couldn't Panasonic, Toshiba, and Samsung sue Sony for placing it's image on their sets? If they had their own movie studios with films in production they might, but no. Sony is not cutting into the sale of their films because they don't have any.

Advertising study after study has shown that consumers are more attracted to a TV with an image on it than a blank or blue screen. The other companies could sue Sony over this practice. They would then be forced to have their own images made at their cost. They have essentially received free advertising copy at Sony's expense. Sony wins, they win, everybody's happy. Is it Illegal? Yes! Is it customary to look the other way when everybody's getting paid?Absolutely! You don't have to show damages to actually file a claim, but the reality is no one is going to pay for a lawyer unless they can recover something.

So is anyone hurt by this practice? What about the CG guys who made the ship or the graphic artists that designed the alien sign used in the image? If they did not sign away all rights and did not receive additional compensation for the images they might be able to sue Sony. Good luck working in the movies for the next 30 years.

One of the easiest ways to fix this is to write the network legal department and ask permission to use the frame in your image. Send them a copy and state your use. Is it free in your gallery or do you plan to sell it? If you are ignored or told no then delete it. If you get a yes then it's a legal contract and you can display the work. Their image seen in your image, especially in a positive light is considered free advertizing. While you probably won't get paid like BestBuy did from Sony you might just get a yes.