Hello, I want to use game images (like ign.com etc) in some of my articles. - Is it legal to just take any picture of the related game? - Do the game owner provide pictures? - Is screenshot images legal to publish?
To be perfectly clear, by USA copyright law, as soon as someone creates something, it belongs to that person! They don't need paperwork saying "I own this game I created." If they created it for a company, their employment agreement (or contract, or whatever) determines whether the company owns all copyrights or if the employee/contractor does. If the current owner of the copyright of any intellectual property posts that IP to a website which has a terms of service that states that posting transfers rights to the site, now the website owns the copyright. Bottom line: You don't own the copyright, do you? Unless that game is in the Public Domain, you may not use screenshots of it in any commercial way without permission from the copyright holder. That's the law, but it's not always followed. In your case, you probably won't be sued for just publishing screenshots in an article. You just better not sell the screenshots or graphics made with those screenshots. State which game the screenshot is from. Use a caption under the picture, for example. Also, keep in mind the copyright owner may issue a cease and desist order to you if they see your article later and don't want their pictures used.
I think you can use screenshot or trailer since they fall under fair uses, eg for critics, reference practically you can use it but theoretically illegal ( that makes gamespot illegal since they don't have permission for everything or may be anything )
IANAL. It depends on the purpose of the articles. Exception is made in copyright law for Fair Use if the article is journalism or educational in nature. Copyright is intended to protect the market for a work, not lock the work away so it cannot ever be used by anyone other than the copyright holder.