[cc-community] Licensing postcards, etc.
Terry Hancock
hancock at anansispaceworks.com
Mon Oct 2 22:22:17 EDT 2006
Edward Bryant wrote:
> If I am selling an oil painting on Ebay and I take a picture of it
> for my listing, then there are two copyrights potentially at issue:
> (1) the photograph, and (2) the image of the painting. As the
> photographer and seller of the painting, I could logically argue that
> I own the copyright in the photo and have fair use to use the image
> of the painting in the photo (because I am photographing it to sell
> it). In such a situation my copyright notice is entirely valid, even
> if I don't own the rights to the painting itself.
The photograph of the painting, if it does no more than reproduce the
painting, is not (under US law) copyrightable as a new work. It's
merely a copy:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridgeman_Art_Library_v._Corel_Corp
However, as the link will explain, the courts might decide differently
in another jurisdiction (however, I think this is generally untested).
A second point is that, according to the US copyright office,
"advertising materials" are not copyrightable either. I'm not sure
whether that would be considered to apply, though.
Cheers,
Terry
--
Terry Hancock (hancock at AnansiSpaceworks.com)
Anansi Spaceworks http://www.AnansiSpaceworks.com
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