Last week
I wrote a blog post which concluded that many self-publishers would probably
burn out from the estimated twelve hour days needed to write and successfully promote
their books. To illustrate the blog post I used a picture of a crazed Jack
Nicholson from The Shining. For those who have not seen it, in that movie Jack
plays a writer looking after a near empty haunted hotel. He is suffering a
minor dose of writer’s block and ends up typing up a manuscript with “all work
and no play makes Jack a dull boy” repeated over and over again.
image of Jack as a subtle illustration of an overworked writer going crazy.
placed a link to the post on Google+ I received a comment asking me if I knew
that the image was probably copyrighted. I had not thought of that. I resisted
telling the guy who mentioned it to get the stick out of his bum. But after a
bit of research, I am glad he pointed it out.
Laws
According to the Arts Law Centre of Australia, you can only use someone
else’s images in your blog if:
- The copyright duration has expired and the work is in the “public
domain”; - you have
the copyright owner’s permission; -
there is
sufficient acknowledgement and using the image would be a “fair
dealing” for the purpose of criticism and review, parody and satire, or
reporting news; or - the image
is “clip art” – sometimes referred to as royalty free work,
copyright-free work, shareware or freeware (e.g. Creative Commons resources
such as OpenPhoto).
In the US there is a fair use exception, but not in Australia. “In
Australia, the Copyright Act provides “fair dealing” exceptions for
the purpose of research or study, criticism or review, parody or satire, and reporting
news. When considering whether use of copyright material is fair dealing you
need to carefully consider: the purpose and character of the use; nature of the
copyrighted work; amount and substantiality of the portion; the effect on the
potential market; and whether or not there is an absence of intent to
plagiarise. If you are unsure whether
your use of someone else’s work constitutes “fair dealing”, you
should seek legal advice.”
the success and writing habits of writers who self-publish. But the article
does not refer directly to the movie The
Shining, so if I go back and add a comment to the blog that “we don’t want to
end up like Jack in The Shining
(pictured above)” does that bring the use of the image under the provisions of
the fair dealing exception? I have no idea as there seems to be a distinct lack
of legal precedent to go by in Australia and the US. Has any blogger ever been
sued by a movie studio for inappropriately using an image from their film? Or
do the movie’s producers consider it free publicity?
sentence from a novel. .Although I believe it is highly unlikely I would be
sued for using the image, I do want to do the right thing. As a writer, I am
adamant that a writer’s copyright should be respected, so I should show the
same respect for other copyright owners. So from now on, unless I am commenting
on a particular film or book, I will refrain from using images from them to pretty
up my blog.
0 Responses
In matters of copyright, it's best to err on the side of caution. It's unlikely you'd be sued for using the pic – but if you were, it would ruin you financially.
I stick to my own pics, those of my friends (with permission) and creative commons stuff – usually Wikimedia Commons.
Satima, it would take very little to ruin me financially. It's good to hear an editors point of view. Fortunately I only recently started making my blogs look prettier by using pictures, and in most cases the pictures used, like book covers, are directly related to the blog post.
Caution is probably right, though I try to provide a link these days to most images, though finding the original source is difficult as some images are shared by so many people.
If there is a commercial angle, I try to only use my images, eg, book covers, and on a couple of occasions, when I have discovered an artist, I have emailed them and asked if I could use it. Both said yes.
Same with my videos too – only use creative commons free music, crediting the creator of course. It is a little tricky though and good to remember.
Cheers