In the U.S., a court ruled that image search thumbnails are not in violation of copyright laws under the "Fair Use" doctrine. This is why Google and other search engines are allowed to use thumbnails of people's copyrighted works without having to ask for their permission. http://www.publicknowledge.org/ However, this is not the case for most European countries where copyright does protect even thumbnails, and Google has been taking some heat about this. http://arstechnica.com/ I was thinking about creating an art website using thumbnails of other people's art work. It would be similar to an image search, where when you clicked the thumbnail it would take you to the source of the work. This kind of seems to be a copyright infringement, but according to U.S. courts, image thumbnails are not copyright protected, and I'm a U.S. citizen. So does this mean I'm allowed to make thumbnails of other people's work as long as it's the work of a U.S. citizen? And if I make thumbnails of a foreigner's work, i.e; a German, than he/she would be able to sue me in a German court, because German copyright laws protect thumbnails? Have I confused you yet, because I've confused myself.
I think if you reread the court ruling, it doesn't say that all image thumbnails fall under "fair use" - the ruling was for their "search engine" and likely came at the cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees. There is nothing that would prevent someone from suing you - especially if your site is commercial in nature (has advertising or takes in any income, vs a true non-monitized fan site). The size of thumbnail would likely play a factor. From a practical standpoint, I think if you are talking about small thumbnails (like 90 pixels) and you are willing to remove any thumbnail if notified, the chances of a lawsuit against a small site are very, very slim. If a slight chance of a lawsuit worries you, I would think about incorporating or an LLC for asset protection.
SamCombs: Your analysis above is correct. However, "fair use" is a fact-specific doctrine. So the courts haven't said that all possible uses of of thumbnails are in fact outside copyright protection. However, in the search engine environment, Google has been able to gain some space in the U.S.. If you were going to create a web site suing thumbnails of other people's artwork similar to what Google has done, you may very well be onto the same legal analysis as Google has been subjected to. However, if other factors are present such as monetization of your website outside keyword ads, those would have to be identified as possible other factors. All of these issues would have to be looked at specifically and in depth. There may be other more recent cases out there which address the issue. Here are some additional resources for your review: Copyright Infringement & Fair Use Blog Fair Use of Thumbnail Images