Quote:
Originally Posted by Weelok
Ok, here is the legal side. Summary, as long as we don't profit from the image, we can pretty much do whatever we want.
http://info.legalzoom.com/profit-vs-...ues-20396.html
Profit and Remedies
If your use of a copyrighted work is found to be an infringement, a variety of legal remedies are available to the copyright holder. If the copyright was registered with the U.S. Copyright Office before you infringed it, or within three months of its publication, you may be fined between $750 and $150,000 per act of infringement at the discretion of the court. The fact that you profited from the work might lead a court to assess a higher damage award against you. If the copyright was not registered in time, the court may still order you to turn over all of your profits to the copyright holder. If your use was for non-profit purposes and the work was not registered, the copyright holder must prove that he suffered actual damages from your use to win a judgment. It is often quite difficult to prove damages in copyright infringement cases when the infringing party did not profit from his use of the copyrighted material.
The nonprofit angle is often used by YouTube gamer commentaries when in game audio includes music that is trademarked. If you do not profit, Sony can't cause your video to be removed however, if you turn on advertising and profit, then Sony can make claims to the audio if it can meet some threshold above Fair Use which YouTube gives to Sony upon any claim. So video game reviewers have taken to removing music audio tracks if possible if they intend to profit from the review. Conversely, Twitch TV streams the actual content as it's being played and hasn't run afoul of Sony I presume because the stream isn't saved just broadcast.
Summary, we can do whatever we want, have at it. |
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Also bear in mind that the company manufacturing the poker chips will be making a profit, so using an image without permission potentially puts them at risk. Your you tube example is not applicable since there are no tangible, physical goods involved, and no third party making a profit.