fair use and flickr

[wayler]

I have a similar question, but in regards to using "famous" quotes along with your photograph as is seen in many of the inspirational or motivational pics, posters, etc. I know some things are in the public domain such as Shakespeare, but what about things that are not so clearly in the public domain. Can you use a 2 sentence quote from a 300 page book without getting permission? What about a 2 line quote from 6 lines of original poetry? It seems as though points 3 and 4 from the Copyright office link might not apply, but what if you are selling said pic and quote?

 

[Overread18 6]

Commercial use might well change things. Typically copyright lasts for 70 years after the authors death (in most western nations though I think its only 50 years in Australia). However commercial use of items still under copyright might well require that you pay royalties to the rights holder even if you're only quoting short parts of the greater whole.

It's something that you'd have to contact a lawyer about really - best to get a firm legal answer on something like this (esp since the opinion on the net, I suspect, will be greatly divided between those who know and those who guess)

 

[KmH]

Bottom line is if you put your stuff out on the web is subjected to be stolen and you won't stop it on flickr, here, or your own host website.

And as there are no national boundaries on the net, they can steal it in say Indonesia and just poke their tongue at you as it would be pretty hard to enforce.

Check out the Berne Convention for the Protection of Literary and Artistic Works.

160+ countries have signed on, apparently including Indonesia - File:Berne Convention signatories.svg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.