Mark’s Soap Box

The AP has attacked Snappedshot for using their photos on his blog of photo-journalism critique. Just like the entrenched interest they are, they attack those who shining the light upon them. SnappedShot has been taken down due to a Cease and Desist Order (aka C&D). That’s a fear tactic that the ‘big boys’ like to use to scare those they don’t like, or can’t control.

so what is copyright

It’s not a Philosophical movement or a way for the left to keep tabs on the right; it’s a legal idea that allows creators of works to control their works. From the Copyright Office of the US

Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States (title 17, U. S. Code) to the authors of “original works of authorship,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works. This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to authorize others to do the following:

• To reproduce the work in copies or phonorecords;
• To prepare derivative works based upon the work;
• To distribute copies or phonorecords of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
• To perform the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and motion pictures and other audiovisual works;
• To display the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture or other audiovisual work; and
• In the case of sound recordings*, to perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.

In addition, certain authors of works of visual art have the rights of attribution and integrity as described in section 106A of the 1976 Copyright Act. For further information, request Circular 40, Copyright Registration for Works of the Visual Arts.

Sounds good. You create something, you get to keep it and make money off of it. Sweet. Here are some myths about copyrights.

Fair Use, is it fair?

Stanford has a site that covers ‘fair use’ extensively.

NOLO has some very good books on the law, Stanford has posted one of the books on Fair Use, well most of it anyway. Read this if: you a blogger and worried about whether you can get into trouble?  From that book:

Fair use is a copyright principle based on the belief that the public is entitled to freely use portions of copyrighted materials for purposes of commentary and criticism. For example, if you wish to criticize a novelist, you should have the freedom to quote a portion of the novelist’s work without asking permission. Absent this freedom, copyright owners could stifle any negative comments about their work.

Unfortunately, if the copyright owner disagrees with your fair use interpretation, the dispute will have to be resolved by courts or arbitration. If it’s not a fair use, then you are infringing upon the rights of the copyright owner and may be liable for damages.

Well I don’t like the ‘resolve in court’ part. More:

1. Comment and Criticism

If you are commenting upon or critiquing a copyrighted work–for instance, writing a book review — fair use principles allow you to reproduce some of the work to achieve your purposes. Some examples of commentary and criticism include:
quoting a few lines from a Bob Dylan song in a music review
summarizing and quoting from a medical article on prostate cancer in a news report
copying a few paragraphs from a news article for use by a teacher or student in a lesson, or
copying a portion of a Sports Illustrated magazine article for use in a related court case.

The underlying rationale of this rule is that the public benefits from your review, which is enhanced by including some of the copyrighted material. Additional examples of commentary or criticism are provided in the examples of fair use cases.

2. Parody

A parody is a work that ridicules another, usually well-known work, by imitating it in a comic way. Judges understand that by its nature, parody demands some taking from the original work being parodied. Unlike other forms of fair use, a fairly extensive use of the original work is permitted in a parody in order to “conjure up” the original.

Maybe Snapped shot should draw mustaches on all of the photos? That would be parody.

In general if the publication is in the public interest, as I believe Snappedshot to be; then you have a much better case to withstand the C&D claims.

What to do

I had not seen the site Snappedshot until today, so I can not say if he was abusive or not. The Google cache is useless as the photos are not there to see. Hmm. It strikes me that the AP is scared, and lashing out just like the old guard always does.

- Mark
Mark’s Soap Box

Tags: ap, freedom of speech, fair use, copyright, snappedshot.com, trademark, cease and desist,