Specific to US copyright law, there are exceptions for "public persons". Without these exceptions, it would severely restrict reporting on said persons. The most important part of that last sentence is elected officials. In any highly advanced democracy, you want to grant your media wide access to elected officials for reporting purposes.
AFAIK that is not correct. They are issued by the government. Required by the government to be displayed on the car if you are driving on public roads. But the plate is not physically owned by the government. The biggest distinction seems to be that in some states it becomes part of the car, and in other states it stays with the driver when ownership of the car changes hands (or the owner of the car can choose either option when selling the car).
As an aside, these days I am guessing the latter is the truth in most states. So many specialty and personalized plate options out there that people are going to want to keep for themselves.
Obviously the government does own a small number of plates, of course, because they attach them to government owned vehicles.
ceejayoz|3 months ago
So CNN can't put Trump's photo up unless he consents?
pbhjpbhj|3 months ago
throwaway2037|3 months ago
cwillu|3 months ago
cycomanic|3 months ago
kevin_thibedeau|3 months ago
pseudalopex|3 months ago
[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
rootusrootus|3 months ago
As an aside, these days I am guessing the latter is the truth in most states. So many specialty and personalized plate options out there that people are going to want to keep for themselves.
Obviously the government does own a small number of plates, of course, because they attach them to government owned vehicles.
dghughes|3 months ago
cwillu|3 months ago