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Copyright rules clarification?

post #1 of 16
8/30/10 at 8:29am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
9. a) It is illegal to embed copyrighted photos, images or text in a thread or post. Any photos or images of this nature will be deleted from posts without warning and disciplinary action may be taken. The absence of a copyright notice on an image or the ignorance of who owns the copyrights does not mean it isn't protected by law. In general, if you didn't make the image or take the photo, don't post it.
When providing information to others, I often quote other sources. Whenever I do so, I provide the source and a link, and either use quotation marks, or usually I provide the information in the
Quote:
Quote
format.

When providing information via an image, if credit is provided to the author, and a link to the source article provided, is it then still a potential violation of copyright law to use IMG tags when including an image - that image being the information provided?

I'm confused about the different treatment of quotes when the source is written material and quotes when the source is an image.

Thanks!
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post #2 of 16
8/30/10 at 9:11am
The law isn't clear-cut, because obviously there's U.S. copyright law, and
international copyright law, but images/photos appear to fall into the "if you didn't create it yourself, don't use it" category. Emphasis added.

Copyright in General

Quote:
Copyright, a form of intellectual property law, protects original works of authorship including literary, dramatic, musical, and artistic works, such as poetry, novels, movies, songs, computer software, and architecture. Copyright does not protect facts, ideas, systems, or methods of operation, although it may protect the way these things are expressed. See Circular 1, Copyright Basics, section "What Works Are Protected."
If you use the "What Works Are Protected" link from that page, you'll find lists of what is protected
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pictorial, graphic and sculptural work
and what's not (pdf):
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Works consisting entirely of information that is common property and containing no original authorship (for example: standard calendars, height and weight charts, tape measures and rulers, and lists and tables taken from public documents or other common sources).
This summary of "fair use" might (or might not!) shed some light on the matter:
U.S. Copyright Office - Fair Use
Quote:
Section 107 contains a list of the various purposes for which the reproduction of a particular work may be considered fair, such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Section 107 also sets out four factors to be considered in determining whether or not a particular use is fair:

1. The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes
2. The nature of the copyrighted work
3. The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
4. The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work

The distinction between fair use and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined. There is no specific number of words, lines, or notes that may safely be taken without permission.

Acknowledging the source of the copyrighted material does not substitute for obtaining permission.
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post #3 of 16
8/30/10 at 12:00pm
Thread Starter 
Actually, that doesn't help much. Just makes me feel like I shouldn't quote anything either.
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post #4 of 16
8/30/10 at 2:54pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by LDG View Post
Just makes me feel like I shouldn't quote anything either.
That's right Laurie. I can only speak with any authority about UK copyright law, but the basis is that the right to exploit the work (i.e. make any use of it such as copy, distribute, perform, publish etc) in any way is the exclusive right of the copyright owner.

Anybody who does any of the acts reserved as the exclusive rights of the copyright owner without their consent infringes copyright.

The Fair Dealing provisions exist to allow persons to make fair use of the protected work for the purpose of teaching, criticism, review or news reporting without the need to seek consent; but what amounts to fair dealing is very restrictive.

ETA: Infringement occurs where the whole or a substantial part of the work is copied. What constitutes a substantial part of the work is not determined by the amount copied but essentially by determining whether the part taken contains the essential characteristics (e.g most recognisable) parts of the work.

Tricia is right, images are given stronger protection, in that the old adage "a picture is worth a thousand words" means that they law feels they ought to be given greater protection.
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post #5 of 16
11/7/10 at 7:53am
I'm really confused about this. I had two images removed from a recent thread of mine even though both pictures were released by Nintendo for promotional reasons. I always provide a link for pics that are not mine IF it is possible to find the original to link to (not possible if the image is an advertisement and is all over the web as in this case).
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=222883

Still, they were yanked but it doesn't happen to everybody.

Here's a thread that's been around for 4 days, still intact with a copied image from the web.
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=223141

And another that's been around for a day or two.
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=223310

The Great Vacation thread is chock-full of images that the posters did not create!
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...light=Vacation

I'm feeling singled out - I'm glad my threads are read by the mods - but shouldn't the rules be applied to everyone?
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post #6 of 16
11/7/10 at 8:53am
Thread Starter 
The birthday threads are another example of where copyrighted images are not removed. They're posted all the time in that thread - many of them with the (C) in them!
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post #7 of 16
11/8/10 at 4:51am
Quote:
Originally Posted by SwampWitch View Post
I'm really confused about this. I had two images removed from a recent thread of mine even though both pictures were released by Nintendo for promotional reasons. I always provide a link for pics that are not mine IF it is possible to find the original to link to (not possible if the image is an advertisement and is all over the web as in this case).
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=222883

Still, they were yanked but it doesn't happen to everybody.

Here's a thread that's been around for 4 days, still intact with a copied image from the web.
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=223141

And another that's been around for a day or two.
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=223310

The Great Vacation thread is chock-full of images that the posters did not create!
http://www.thecatsite.com/forums/sho...light=Vacation

I'm feeling singled out - I'm glad my threads are read by the mods - but shouldn't the rules be applied to everyone?
Thank you for bringing those to our attention. They have now been taken care of. There is not a double standard and if we don't see the thread, we can't take care of it. Despite what people may think, the Mods can't be everywhere and read every thread. We also rely on our members to report problem threads. If you see a problem in the future, instead of posting a link in another thread, please report it.

In the site rules, we also don't allow discussion of Moderator actions, so in the future if you feel you are being singled out, please discuss it privately with a Mod, Admin or Anne.

However, thank you for pointing this out as it seems to be a problem lately and may be time for a public reminder.


Quote:
Originally Posted by LDG View Post
The birthday threads are another example of where copyrighted images are not removed. They're posted all the time in that thread - many of them with the (C) in them!
If you see a problem post, please report it.

For anyone that is not sure how to report a post, please click on exclamation point inside the triangle in the upper-right hand side of the post.
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post #8 of 16
11/8/10 at 6:13am
Usually, you can see on the site you are taking the picture from if the picture copyrighted or not. It is most likely copyrighted. On blogs for examples, the author will state that you can take the picture with an authorization, if you want to share without lucrative means - but you have to ask first via e-mail. A lot of government sites, like NASA, for example, because the pictures were taken with TAXES money, are not copyrighted, and that can be verified...
GIF files such as the ones used for myspace are also not copyrighted...
It always better IMHO aside from the above just to paste the link instead...
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post #9 of 16
11/8/10 at 6:39am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by AbbysMom View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by LDG View Post
The birthday threads are another example of where copyrighted images are not removed. They're posted all the time in that thread - many of them with the (C) in them!
If you see a problem post, please report it.

For anyone that is not sure how to report a post, please click on exclamation point inside the triangle in the upper-right hand side of the post.
When my posts were edited for copyright issues, it seemed like all I saw everywhere were other violations. I felt uncomfortable hitting the report post button for it and didn't want to be or feel like a PIA, but I see your point, and will do.
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post #10 of 16
11/8/10 at 8:42am
Thanks for the clarification!
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post #11 of 16
11/9/10 at 10:06am
I'm just curious if you're familiar with Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial License. I would have embedded an image last night that is licensed under this but didn't know if anyone on here even knew what it is.
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post #12 of 16
11/9/10 at 3:00pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
I'm just curious if you're familiar with Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial License. I would have embedded an image last night that is licensed under this but didn't know if anyone on here even knew what it is.
Yep, I have it in my blog...
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post #13 of 16
11/9/10 at 3:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carolina View Post
Yep, I have it in my blog...
But you're not an admin or mod pulling pictures or text that may be under creative commons - which is why I was asking if they're aware of it.
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post #14 of 16
11/9/10 at 3:09pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
But you're not an admin or mod pulling pictures or text that may be under creative commons - which is why I was asking if they're aware of it.
I thought you were asking to us, in general... sorry...
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post #15 of 16
11/9/10 at 4:49pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Carolina View Post
I thought you were asking to us, in general... sorry...
I think it's great that you know and use it, and hope for many things that other people start to use it to since regular copyright laws are tricky and restricting. Hopefully a few other people will learn about creative commons after reading our last few post.
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post #16 of 16
11/9/10 at 5:47pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by strange_wings View Post
I think it's great that you know and use it, and hope for many things that other people start to use it to since regular copyright laws are tricky and restricting. Hopefully a few other people will learn about creative commons after reading our last few post.
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