On one of my websites, I sometimes use collage images where I have made the collage but I did not take the original photographs. I am fairly confident that using these on my own site is acceptable under Fair Use because I've only used a cropped portion of original work, changed the meaning, used it for commentary, etc. An example would be if I were writing an article about a celebrity's engagement ring, I find a high-resolution waist-up picture and crop it down to just the ring and then combine it with another cropped image of their hand. My question is: if someone uses my collage on their site, can I file a DMCA with Google images? They're definitely violating someone's copyright, but is it mine or the original photographer's? It's very frustrating for me because I spend a lot of time combing through pictures to find the best ones to crop and then some crappy autoblog scrapes it off of me. But I don't know whether I can claim ownership for a derivative work.
No, as you are infringing on the original persons copyright, using any part of the image is not Fair Use unless stated by the artist that you may use the image as part of your own work, if you were to file a DMCA you would be lying about your ownership of the original work, and may need to show the copyright and original work in court. If you want to use other peoples work in your art, find some royalty free photo or contact the original artist and get permission to use the work, them you may file a DMCA.
Thanks for the reply, but Fair Use does not require permission. Fair Use allows you to use a copyrighted work without permission under certain conditions. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use
Fair Use would be downloading the image to your computer and editing the image, but as soon as you upload that image to the internet you become a publisher, and the image is no longer be Fair Use and copyright infringement, better to be safe and get permission or use your own work than risk getting into a lawsuit. I would read this: http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
Your first mistake is reading Wikipedia.. Contact your lawyer (I'm assuming u have retained one if your in business) But if you even question yourself at all be safe.. Trademark and copyright infringement is going to be a big issue soon and people will be made examples of......
this is funny you stole image and then want to copyright it. even if you paid to license the pic, you dont get to resell it
why would you think its ok to steal someone elses work then cry when someone steals yours? its like stealing peoples wallets then complaining when yours gets stolen