My understanding is as follows: You absolutely can receive a copyright for a picture of a face, just as much as you can receive a copyright for a picture of a m

My understanding is as follows: You absolutely can receive a copyright for a picture of a face, just as much as you can receive a copyright for a picture of a mountain. The face does not receive a copyright, and neither does a mountain. Your likeness is clearly something in the public. I can't sue people for looking at me without paying, for instance. Your likeness could very well be a trademark, though. Especially celebrities do business expressly based on their likeness. It is their brand and they can probably protect it. So you can't use that likeness/brand without their permission (as long as they protect that mark). IANAL, of course, and I could easily be wrong.