Hi, I want some kind of advice about how it works in the "article and picture field". Let´s assume I have a interactive community where a lots of member are writing something interesting and post some unique picture. Now lets assume that Fox news see a very interesting article with 2 interesting picture written in my community. 1. Now, can fox news just copy the whole article including the pic and print it on their mag , but referring to us? 2. Or do Magazine usually ask to buy the article before they publish it on their homepage/mag? 3. If magazine really buys article/pic etc from communities, should I write in the disclaimer when signing up, that we have the right to sell your article ? :s...just curious because I don´t really know how this works. But I admit I have seen a lot of magazine published facebook picture or other party picture. the community must gett some kind of compensation huh?' Thanks folks!
The simple rule of thumb with photography, the written word, and other creative works is that the person who created it owns the copyright under the Berne Convention. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berne_Convention_for_the_Protection_of_Literary_and_Artistic_Works Unless of course there are any written permissions or rights signed away under terms and conditions of uploading to the site.
1. Not unless the author gives permission or releases the article and picture into the public domain. Portions may be used under certain circumstances under the concept of "fair use" but that would almost never justify republishing the entire article. 2. It depends. 3. Unless the author of a work (in the case of a photo, the photographer) gives you the right to sell (usually via the website's terms and conditions), you have no right to sell someone else's works. In addition, in the case of a photo, even the person who took the picture doesn't generally have rights to use the identifiable images of real people unless he has obtained their consent, usually in the form of a model release.