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Question

Can I copy an image of a bird from the Internet and paste it into my personal database of bird sightings as an illustration of that species of bird? The database would not be shown publicly or used for any commercial purpose.

Submitted: 180 days ago.
Category: Intellectual Property Law
Value: $15
Status: AWAITING CUSTOMER ACTION
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Posted by Maverick 179 days and 21 hours ago.

Answer

Normally the copying of photographs, unlike the copying of text, does not easily fit within the fair use exception, even when used for a non-commercial purpose. However, if the photo is to be used purely for private and personal use between a few friends and family members, it should qualify as an exception to infringment.

 

 

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179 days and 14 hours ago.

Reply

Thanks. So then would the makers of a commercial database software that allowed customers to enter information about their bird sightings and to paste images into a picture field be safe from infringement lawsuits?   The database itself would not include any pictures but would make it easy for the users to paste images that they had in their clipboard into the database. The images could, of course, be from anywhere?

Accepted Answer

I do not believe they would be safe from a lawsuit. If they are posting pictures from someone who is uploaded a copyrighted picture, they may also be held liable. Of course they may have a contractual right of recourse against the person who posted it without authority either original or derived from first sale.

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Expert: Maverick
Pos. Feedback: 100.0 %
Accepts: 42
Answered: 5/12/2009

Lawyer

10 yrs plus civil law experience.

179 days and 10 hours ago.

Reply

Thanks.

Posted by Maverick 179 days and 8 hours ago.

Answer

You are welcome.

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