Need help with fair use ....

.... I've searched the googles and need some more brains helping me with this.

Here's what I need... I need actual links and "proof" of an answer to my question... not just opinions. I need links and writings from credible sources, you'll understand why in a second.

Here's the situation....


My wife works in a very large law enforcement agency and they have a Facebook account. They are claiming that they can "take whatever photos they want from the internet" and use them on their facebook site.

So, I need professional and credible sources that prove that this isn't true so we can show them the ethical bind, this people have thick skulls.

Thanks for the help,

~Eric

[Jim Poor]

http://www.photoattorney.com/

Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts They also have a FB page.

[RLucas]

That is the problem. There is nothing concrete about it. It is such a subjective act, that it actually has to go to court, and the system has to decide on whether or not it falls under the fair use umbrella.
This is the best link I have found yet.


Ahhh, Jim beat me to it.

[OsmosisStudios]

Depends on how they're using the images. Are they selling them?

At the very least, I'd suggest adding a by-line back to the source.

[LeeR]

I tend to refer to Dan Heller's site for this kind of thing. He wrote a book on legal issues for photographers and his site is a cornucpia of information on the subject. And, yes, there is a section on "fair use." True, the site is mostly dedicated to whether or not photographers need model releases, but Heller is very thorough in his explanation.

[FrankLamont]

Here.
Another.

Here are some more specific ones.
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4

[BCampbell]

Originally Posted by maxharvard

My wife works in a very large law enforcement agency and they have a Facebook account. They are claiming that they can "take whatever photos they want from the internet" and use them on their facebook site.

A couple other people have mentioned it but it bears repeating and clarification.

Copyright law does not strictly define fair use. There are no clauses that say "you can't copy pictures from the internet for your Facebook."

Fair use consists of a set of guidelines and general points that a judge interprets on a case by case basis. This is what judges do. So, for a specific answer to your specific case, you'd have to bring the issue to court and get a ruling. That's how our justice system works.

Your description is extremely vague, so vague that even an IP lawyer wouldn't be able to answer your question. The links others have given are good starts. Put extremely briefly, fair use examines four main aspects of the use:
Purpose and character: has the work been simply copies or is it a "transformative" use? Nature of use: Has the original work been published?
Amount & Substantiality: is a small sample of the work (ofor example, a short quote of a book) being used, or the entire work?
Market effect: Does the use have an effect on the original creator's potential for business or income?

These are basic questions, and again it's case by case, by a judge. Just answering these questions oneself is not really enough to be definitive.

Short of taking it to court, your best bet is to look at existing case law.

I was being vague on purpose.

I also know what the Fair Use law says.

I was hoping some had known of previous cases that could show some sort of guidelines as to what fair use practically looks like.

~Eric

[BCampbell]

Originally Posted by maxharvard

I was hoping some had known of previous cases that could show some sort of guidelines as to what fair use practically looks like.

Again, not going to help you because it's adjudicated on a case by case basis using specifics of the case at hand.

You can start here though. You may have trouble finding a case that refers to similar specifics to yours. Again without those specifics, it's hard to help you.

Emailing the folks at photoattorney blog is not a bad idea.

If you're looking for a "gotcha!" to show someone, you're not likely to find one both because of the vagueness of fair use clauses and because of human psychology.

[dakwegmo]

Stanford Copyright & Fair Use - Summaries of Fair Use Cases -- some good summaries there that might be relevant to your situation.