legal problem-Texture form them, not mine

[gmask]

Originally posted by focus123kimo
Can i use those pix to be my modle [Texture]?
Should i say the [Source] and [Owner's Name]?
Can i don't talk to the[Owner]?

Where did the texture come from?

[focus123kimo]

I mean from a website, those people like to using Digital-camera to take photos.
For example: Photo.yahoo.com

[focus123kimo]

I asked a friend form Yahoo Messenger
he major in art, and study in univisity.
He said: if it be modifid very much, and it is small picture, and we talk to the owner, that will be ok.
really?

[gmask]

Originally posted by focus123kimo
I asked a friend form Yahoo Messenger
he major in art, and study in univisity.
He said: if it be modifid very much, and it is small picture, and we talk to the owner, that will be ok.
really?

Well specifically regarding yahoo.photos.com you might want to read..

http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/


What it says there is that when you submit photos to punlic areas of yahoo that you are granting yahoo the right to do as they will with them as long as it promotes the specific area of yahoo that the image was posted to.


What this means to you that these images are still copyrighted by the owner and therefore technically any use of them would be an infringement.

As for your friends advice..

"He said: if it be modifid very much, and it is small picture, and we talk to the owner, that will be ok."

Well if you talk to the owneer and they give you permission to use the image as a texture then you don't have to modify it and use whatever resolutiuon is avalaible.

The owner could use regardless of the size or how much it wa smanipulted if they know an dcan prove that it is there image and have grounds for a complaint they can sue.

That however does mean that they would win if they di dsue.

You use of the image could fall under fair use.

Determining fairuse is not easy to do and really it is uncertain until it goes before a judge.

However here are some guidelines to follow..

If you were to take an image and resell it that is clearly and infringment.

However sicnet he said image may be freely avaiable for anyone to download it would be hard to prove that you would be infringing by putting th eimage in a collectiont aht anyone else could also download from your website.

Are you using the image for education or commentary.. then perhaps there is no infringement.

Is using samples from an image you found on photos.yahoo.com clearly an infringment if you are using them for a commercial product?

My guess is that as long as the image is not recognizeable as a whole that it is hardly an issue. If you took a persons entire collection of images and started selling them as a CD that would be another story.

You could however ask them but then if you use them anyway they will know that you used them and could sue you if especially if it's for a game that becomes very popular etc.

If you give the author credit that is not the same as getting permission.

To put thing ssimply you can get away with a little bit and generally speaking when it invovles no profit it is unlikely that there will be a problem. That however does not mean that you can't be sued as copyright does give the author control of their works. The realm of fairuse is not a cleacut set rules.

[dark_lotus]

Ok, steer clear of using copyrighted material.

Unless you get WRITTEN & SIGNED permission from the copyright holder it is illegal to use any copyrighted work with one exeption.

This is if, the questionable image is modified to the extend of NOT BEING RECOGNISABLE as the original image.

Anything else is illegal. :shame:

[gmask]

Originally posted by dark_lotus
Ok, steer clear of using copyrighted material.

Unless you get WRITTEN & SIGNED permission from the copyright holder it is illegal to use any copyrighted work with one exeption.

This is if, the questionable image is modified to the extend of NOT BEING RECOGNISABLE as the original image.

Anything else is illegal. :shame:

That is unless you are using it within the realm of fairuse and even then you are not required to give credit .it's the nice thing to do but without it still fair use..

Such things as facts can easily be used within fairuse.

To say it is okay to if the image is modified beyond being recognizable that only means that the copyright holder may not know anything has been infringed but doing so still doe snot make it legal.

For example you could use some sort of code to scramble an image that at a later date the person you sold it to can descramble it. So while the image is scrambled is it legal to sell the image? no.

[private]

http://www.law.cornell.edu/treaties/berne/overview.html

[CGTalk Moderation]

This thread has been automatically closed as it remained inactive for 12 months. If you wish to continue the discussion, please create a new thread in the appropriate forum.