Copyright: What you need to know!

First of all, I've just discovered this site and forum and what a great resource! Really helpful to have these copyright myths spelt out for novices like me.

Quick question though please. I want to add some free government leaflets to my website for people to download free of charge. These leaflets are already available free in hard copy from tourist information centres and public offices but also downloadable as pdf files from government websites. However they do say the are copyrighted by the government department.

So do you think I need permission to add the pdf versions to my site as:
(i) I am not planning to change them in any way
(ii) They are already freely available
(iii) There is no loss of revenue to the copyright holder as they don't charge for them anyway, and
(iv) In fact these are tourist leaflets so I am also helping to promote the tourist activity they cover?

Any ideas please?

 

Your best bet would be to obtain permission from the relevant department. If there is any question regarding copyright it's always best to get permission. Also, it might be a case where the government department might not necessarily want to be seen as being associated with your site.

 

Thanks Crusader. Fair point about being seen to be associated with my site too. I'll do what you suggest.

Go4gold

 

One of the most informative sites for anything to do with copyright and trademarks is the US copyright office website for which as a new member here I am not allowed to put a link.

Whilst it sets out US law and practice, copyright and patent law has become so international, that its basic provisions apply almost on a global basis.

Always remember the basic safety rule - if somebody else wrote it first, then it is protected.

 

This is an excellent thread, I am glad to see it being stickied...

I got here from a link posted in the Adsense Threads...

Rep to the OP.

 

hi guys,

What about Movie Posters??
if i were to host those Movie Posters will that be copyright infringement??

if so, what can i do to use them??

 

What about smaller images? Like 40-50 pixels.

Case is: one site making thumbnails of others - can I copy and use them without special permission?

 

No, it's still the same picture.

 

I think tt depends very much on whether if you own the poster and the reason that you are hosting them. You might want to check out this case...

ETW v Jirej Publishing 2003, 6th Cir, Court of Appeals. Tiger Woods sued to stop an artist from using his likeness in a painting and then selling it. ETW claimed protection under the Lanham Act for any and all images of Tiger Woods, which the Court deemed "an untenable claim". The painting was considered protected under the First Amendment. Tiger lost.


SGFB

 

That case is not on point. First, it is a trademark case, not copyright. Second, it deals with an image (painting) created by the artist represented by Jireh Pub, Inc. It does not deal with using an image created by ETW and then used by Jireh (which is what using movie posters would be like.

 

Get permission.
Anybody gets arsy over printable things.
I know as I have the Tshirts

 

Wow.. good info.. thanks a lot

 

Well done Crusader. Excellent info on copyright and definitely something that a lot of the visitors to this forum could do with reading.
Proper job.

 

Very interesting thread. I too have a question... a woman wants to flog her chanel stuff on eBay. She takes photos of the goods including of course a nice clear pic of the logo. With a BANS store up and running I want to showcase some items that are likely to show up on that page.

From all that has gone before in the thread (and yes, I did read it all) I understand that I cannot use her photos even if my use of them might help her sell the shoes/handbag or whatever? What about her? Has she infringed the trademark of Chanel by taking pics of stuff she owns and uploading them?

I can find plenty of 'starlet with designer handbag/shoes' etc across the net, but I understand that I cannot use them because the photographer owns the copyright not the celeb. I'm unlikely to find this kind of thing free or in the public domain anywhere and I shouldn't believe the Flickr folk who say pics are available for use so basically I have no legal options for showing product pics... Bummer.

 

Does a picture taken of a product (showing the logo) used to try to sell the product violate trademark?

Wrong thread. Copyright and trademark laws are very different from each other. However, I'll give you an answer.

1) A person is allowed to sell items they have purchased. If they are selling in bulk, they should make it clear that they are a wholesale distributor and not an authorized reseller.

2) Since the person is not trying to sell the picture, rather the actual product it would be acceptable to show the logo (as it could be deemed necessary to define the product for sale).

3) The person should make note within the ad that the logo/product name are trademarks of the other company with no association.

Now, if the person was using the add to sell competing products or was selling merchandise made by another company with the other company's logo then there would be definite trademark infringement.

 

Okay, thanks. I brought up the Chanel logo because of the coca cola trademerk infringement mentioned earlier in the thread. That is, if a public domain photograph showed a GI standing in a street with a coca cola sign in the picture behind him even if the picture was free of copyright it would infringe trademark.


I realise that the two topics are different but if I wanted to use a photograph of a branded product that I found on the internet, then unless I have misunderstood a portion of this thread then I need to be aware of how both copyright and trademark infringement laws might affect me.

So in my case above, the woman has taken a photograph of a bag she owns because she wants to sell it. She has only a few items, they are her personal belongings and she's neither a wholesaler or authorised reseller.

So she is alright with your points 1 & 2 but you would advise her to place a note on the ad that the picture is representative of individual products she has for sale and she has no association with the brand

Then to stay within both copyright and trademark laws in order to use the picture on my site, I need her permission to use the photograph and I need a statement to the effect of...

Items shown for sale are provided by individuals and neither they nor this site are employees or authorised resellers of the represented brands.

Would that cover me?

 

Thanks, but shouldn't this be in the COPYRIGHT section??

 

Note that the primer is using a source that is 10 years old.

 

Which is still very much in affect today. Even though the source is dated copyright laws haven't changed much, or if there has been any changes they are refinements of topics in the primer.

 

Very useful information for writers like me.
Thanks.