The use of images of presidential candidates....

[OwnedByFerrets]

I think I know the answer to this, but would love some feedback. There are hundreds, probably thousands of images of the candidates being used during this election process. They are being used for tshirts, buttons, stickers and a multitude of other items up for sale. I would hazard a guess that 99% of the images being used by these sellers were captured from a google search. The copyright for these images belong to the photographer who took the shot. Its illegal for anyone else to use the images for the purpose of making income.
Is there any exception to this law because they are such public figures?
Is there any chance that the people using these images illegally will actually be charged?
I'm sure the candidates welcome the publicity, but its not up to them. The photographer has full copyrights the moment the image is captured.
If you are a professional photog, please jump in with your thoughts.

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