D
Deleted member 161149
Guest
If someone posted a copyrighted image on social media as a form of nonprofit or non-commercial purposes under fair use, could you still get sued or arrested?
TyraWadman
The Brutally Honest Man-Child
Might wanna ask your lawyer about that one!
D
Deleted member 161149
Guest
I don't know if I have one.
Mambi
Fun loving kitty cat
You won't be arrested, not that kind of crime, but you could be sued if the person chooses to.
It would be up to you to argue "fair use", but it IS a copyrighted image so while as long as you're not profiting from it they might let it slide they might not as well. A classic example is Disney once sued a daycare that had some pictures of Micky on the wall and they posted the pictures of their daycare in ads. As soon as the pictures were public the lawyers from Disney caught wind and sent them a letter asking them to remove the images from the ads (they did not care about the wall itself) as it was creating an association they did not agree to.
Really though, @TyraWadman has the best idea...copyright law and fair use is SUCH a touchy topic with such nuances and legal BS and petty laws that really only a trained lawyer can really answer that for you. Though if it's any consolation, most copyright owners don't want to go to court and would probably just ask you politely to remove them first if it bothered them.
It's all in the nature of the post I suppose.
ben909
vaporeon character != mushroom characters
it depends, don't take legal advice form people here
it also depends on who is the copyright owner, how you used it, and so on, if its a drawing of something copyrighted and not a direct copy, its pretty easy to call it far use, if its something more official, its hard to say
chances are the site's policy will remove it first
but really, don't take advice from us
it also depends on who is the copyright owner, how you used it, and so on, if its a drawing of something copyrighted and not a direct copy, its pretty easy to call it far use, if its something more official, its hard to say
chances are the site's policy will remove it first
but really, don't take advice from us
D
Deleted member 161149
Guest
Well I have some friends who use pictures of Sonic for the purposes of fanfictions and character bios on DeviantArt. They don't make them for profit or commercialization but just for their fanfictions. They also give credit to the original owner/creator.
ben909
vaporeon character != mushroom characters
fan art, parody, and review are all consitered "fair use" by some court case i think, although i am not sure of the exacts
if its something of DA, chances they would be taken down for policy issues long before a full lawsuit, and most times i don't think dmca's go to full lawsuits if its taken down
but again, don't take things from me or anyone hear as legal advice
D
Deleted member 161149
Guest
What if other people do it? Should I ignore it?
Baron Tredegar
Master of Forgotten Lore
It really depends on what is from, some IPs dont care if you use their stuff but others are notorious for being trigger happy about anyone using their stuff.
D
Deleted member 161149
Guest
Is Sega one of those?
Baron Tredegar
Master of Forgotten Lore
Im not sure, I know Games Workshop with their 40k stuff is.
I think Sonic is fine, tons of fangames exist.
I think Sonic is fine, tons of fangames exist.
D
Deleted member 161149
Guest
Okay. Thanks.
quoting_mungo
Well-Known Member
If it's not against the site's rules, it's not your business to report it, tbh. If it is against site rules, that's the basis you should report it on, not legal concerns. Protecting their copyright/trademark is the corporation's business, not yours.
Connor J. Coyote
Well-Known Member
It depends on how old it is....... if it's over a certain time frame from when the original images were created, then...... they may have become what's called "public domain" images.... and in those cases, they're free to use.
If you're using a copyrighted image that's more recent however, and that's still protected under copyright law - then technically and legally...... it's probably putting yourself at risk for potential litigation from the holder, if they find out about it.
If you're still determined to use an image such as this (given those facts above) then, it's probably better and wiser to contact the creator of the image(s) and then ask them for permission first, if that's the case.... and if they agree, you'd be wise to get it *in writing* from them also.
That said, if you don't want to do that, and you instead commissioned someone to create an image for you specifically for a use like this - then it's perfectly acceptable to "base" a new image off of the copyrighted one for your own usage...... as it's probably considered "fan art" at that point, or a "caricature" of the original which probably won't get you in any legal hot water.
Kumali
Lupine-American
Just FYI to anyone wondering about time limitations for copyright: in the U.S., copyright lasts for the life of the author/creator plus 70 years. So any content created since about the mid-20th century is likely to still be under copyright.