Copyright

[Cazgar]

I've noticed lots of people here use pics for their avatars, or post pics taken from other sites, or just off the net, without giving credit to the owner of them, or getting permission
Many sites if you read their Tou forbid reproduction of their pics or articles without permission.
I know this forum does it's best to adhere to rules of copyright & I know it's hard to keep track, & until now I've said nothing, but knowing lots of artists & photographers, maybe a reminder to members that just because it's on the net doesn't mean you can just take it & use it without permission

 

[ZoddyZod]

That is already highlighted in our general rules

You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you, by this bulletin board, or written permission is given by the copyright holder. Plagiarism will not be tolerated, please give credit to the author if another person’s material is used.

we would encourage that if any suspected use of copyrighted material is occuring that members highlight it to the Mod team via the report function.

 

[Cazgar]

I doubt most people read those rules tbh, but I will report anything I know to be copyrighted, thank you

 

[ian]

Caz, non-commercial use is classed as fair use. Violations often occur when the use is motivated primarily by a desire for commercial gain. The fact that a work is published primarily for private commercial gain weighs against a finding of fair use. For example, using the Bob Dylan line "You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows" in a poem published in a small literary journal would probably be a fair use; using the same line in an advertisement for raincoats probably would not be. This could be also said about avatars and the like...

 

[Cazgar]

There is no general fair use when it comes to images, that is a common misconception
Whether they're done by an artist or photographer, the copyright belongs to the originator, & to use without permission infringes their copyright.
This is especially true when using images from the likes of Warner Bros, Playboy, Dc comics, too many to mention tbh
They aggressively protect their copyright, whether someone's just used it as an avatar for personal use or not
With some artists, you can purchase a license to use their work, I hold several.
Sorry to bang on about it, but it took me a long time to learn about copyrights.

 

[ian]

There is 'fair use' for images...

Fair use. A search engine’s practice of creating small reproductions (“thumbnails”) of images and placing them on its own website (known as “inlining”) did not undermine the potential market for the sale or licensing of those images. Important factors: The thumbnails were much smaller and of much poorer quality than the original photos and served to help the public access the images by indexing them. (Kelly v. Arriba-Soft, 336 F.3d. 811 (9th Cir. 2003).)

found on http/fairuse.stanford.edu/Copyright_and_Fair_Use_Overview/chapter9/9-c.html

this is just one example, you'll find a fair few more on that site.

I'm unsure how far Warner Brothers would take someone using one of there images as an avatar, i know of no Internet forums that have been prosecuted for this kind of act, and i'm sure all of the other mods and admins agree, that until that does happen, we won't be removing avatars with images copyrighted by large companies.

 

[Cazgar]

Fair enough, I'll say no more but you have this in your rules, yet you're saying it's ok to use copyrighted material
"You agree not to post any copyrighted material unless the copyright is owned by you, by this bulletin board, or written permission is given by the copyright holder. Plagiarism will not be tolerated, please give credit to the author if another person’s material is used."

 

[Tolak]

I'll refer this to our forum attorney, thank you for your concern.

 

[simonas]

crikey, wouldnt even see an avatar and think of that. im sure no harm is being done

 

[minnnt]

Maybe i should change mine then...

 

[lloyd]

all the terrible things that go on othrough the internet i hardly think il lose sleep if someone used one of my photos for an avatar.

also i would put any pic on the net that i didnt want to share

 

[Livewire88]

Im sure no harm is caused by using random photos from around the internet!!

Some people just like to moan I guess, why cant we all just get along!! lmao

 

[minnnt]

Some people just like to moan I guess