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US copyright law has an exception for fair use; small portions of a copyrighted work may be used without permission, license, or royalties if they are used for educational or demonstrative purposes.

Taking your own screenshots of a commercial software product would probably be fair use. I doubt that a screenshot provided by the developer would be fair use. Such a screenshot would probably be considered a work of its own, and carry a separate copyright. This is why, for example, Wikipedia often prefers original photos of products rather than manufacturers' marketing materials.

Fair use is decided on a case by case basis; it's impossible to know for sure whether a particular use of a copyrighted work is covered by the exception until the copyright holder sues you for infringement.

As for the Creative Commons issue mentioned in the comments on the original question, I don't see a problem. Screenshots of commercial are often used in third party books and magazines with a fair use rationale; the For Dummies series is a great example. I'm conjecturing here, but if you have a legal right to use a portion of a work without permission or license in your own work, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to license that work under any terms you wish.

US copyright law has an exception for fair use; small portions of a copyrighted work may be used without permission, license, or royalties if they are used for educational or demonstrative purposes.

Taking your own screenshots of a commercial software product would probably be fair use. I doubt that a screenshot provided by the developer would be fair use. Such a screenshot would probably be considered a work of its own, and carry a separate copyright. This is why, for example, Wikipedia often prefers original photos of products rather than manufacturers' marketing materials.

Fair use is decided on a case by case basis; it's impossible to know for sure whether a particular use of a copyrighted work is covered by the exception until the copyright holder sues you for infringement.

US copyright law has an exception for fair use; small portions of a copyrighted work may be used without permission, license, or royalties if they are used for educational or demonstrative purposes.

Taking your own screenshots of a commercial software product would probably be fair use. I doubt that a screenshot provided by the developer would be fair use. Such a screenshot would probably be considered a work of its own, and carry a separate copyright. This is why, for example, Wikipedia often prefers original photos of products rather than manufacturers' marketing materials.

Fair use is decided on a case by case basis; it's impossible to know for sure whether a particular use of a copyrighted work is covered by the exception until the copyright holder sues you for infringement.

As for the Creative Commons issue mentioned in the comments on the original question, I don't see a problem. Screenshots of commercial are often used in third party books and magazines with a fair use rationale; the For Dummies series is a great example. I'm conjecturing here, but if you have a legal right to use a portion of a work without permission or license in your own work, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to license that work under any terms you wish.

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US copyright law has an exception for fair use; small portions of a copyrighted work may be used without permission, license, or royalties if they are used for educational or demonstrative purposes.

Taking your own screenshots of a commercial software product would probably be fair use. I doubt that a screenshot provided by the developer would be fair use. Such a screenshot would probably be considered a work of its own, and carry a separate copyright. This is why, for example, Wikipedia often prefers original photos of products rather than manufacturers' marketing materials.

Fair use is decided on a case by case basis; it's impossible to know for sure whether a particular use of a copyrighted work is covered by the exception until the copyright holder sues you for infringement.