I'm Ben Micellis from the MidasTouch Network. Could the state of Georgia, or more specifically,

Fulton County sue Donald Trump for violating the copyright held by Georgia or Fulton County in the mugshot

of Donald Trump, where Donald Trump purports to have raised over $7 million from that ridiculous absurd and deranged mugshot?

The answer is yes. Fulton County, Georgia, could sue for a copyright infringement claim. You see, unlike the federal government,

states are actually permitted to maintain copyrights and works that are created by the state.

There's some limitations, which I will discuss. But first, let's talk about what a copyright is in general.

And then let's talk about some of the rules of copyright law here, so we could explain it.

So a copyright is defined as the exclusive legal right given to an originator or an assignee to print,

publish, perform, film, record, literary, artistic, or musical material, and to authorize others to do

the same. It is a fixed work of creative expression and a copyright holder can bring lawsuits

against other people who infringe upon that work. Now, who usually owns the copyright of a photograph?

Is it the photographer or is it the subject? Usually the photographer, the one taking the

photograph is presumed to be the owner. Now, somebody who is the subject of the photograph

may have what's called a common law right of publicity and how that photograph is ultimately used,

but as between the photographer and the subject, the photographer is the owner of the copyright. So

here, Fulton County District Attorney, the Fulton County Sheriff's Office, Fulton County in general,

is responsible for the taking of that photograph of Donald Trump. They technically would be the

copyright owner. I'll explain some limitations in a moment. But with respect to the federal

government, there is long held law regarding copyright that the federal government is not allowed

to avail itself of copyright protection. Specifically, the United States Copyright Act says,

Copyright Protection under the U.S. Copyright Act is not available for any work of the United

States government, but the United States government is not precluded from receiving and holding

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