41
votes
D&D Monsters and Copyright
No. The images are copyrighted, and you are using them in a way that would leave you with virtually no argument for fair use. The factors for fair use are set out in 17 USC 107, and they indicate that ...
- 61.8k
34
votes
Is there any legal justification for content on the web without an explicit licence being freeware?
A plethora of case authority establishes that owners do not lose their copyright just because a work is shared online, and that not all re-use of content found on the internet is fair use.
An early ...
- 72.6k
26
votes
Accepted
Is the source important for fair use?
Probably not
I think this question represents a misunderstanding of the linked article, and in any case of the specifically US doctrine of fair use.
Fair use is always based on a part of a copyrighted ...
- 115k
24
votes
D&D Monsters and Copyright
Many D&D monsters and creatures are based on creatures occurring in folklore and myth, such a vampires and trolls. Those are in the public domain, and anyone may use them freely. But images ...
- 115k
23
votes
Can humming a bar of music be considered copyright infringement?
Go to court and find out
There is no doubt that humming a tune and recording it (or performing it in public) is a derivative work - a right reserved to the copyright owner.
Whether it is fair use ...
- 226k
23
votes
Accepted
Is it legal to download and run pirated abandonware because I'm curious about the software?
Downloading commercial software without permission would be infringement, unless an exception to copyright (probably fair use in the US) applied. That the maker and copyright owner no longer supports ...
- 115k
23
votes
Accepted
Can a wiki for a video game be created without authorization from the game creator?
Yes, such a site can be created without infringing copyright
Facts about the game are facts.They are not protected by copyright. Criticism of, and comment about the game, is an activity protected by ...
- 115k
21
votes
Fair Use and DMCA
Twitter don’t have to host your account
UMG’s and Sony’s business is probably more important to Twitter than yours is. It seems Twitter have made a commercial decision to close your account down. They ...
- 226k
21
votes
Accepted
What is the legality of using copyrighted DnD monsters in personal writing?
It's legal if published with universal free access, because WotC permits it.
Law as written generally requires the original copyright holder's permission to publish a story around copyrighted ...
- 3,168
20
votes
Accepted
Fair Use of Photos as a Derivative Work
If the photos are exact or "slavish" reproductions of flat (2D) art, then under Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp., 36 F. Supp. 2d 191 (S.D.N.Y. 1999) the photos are not original, and have no ...
- 115k
20
votes
Is there any legal justification for content on the web without an explicit licence being freeware?
In addition to Jens answer, there's another thing to consider: fair use is a term in US copyright only. Other jurisdictions, including as far as I know all of Europe, do not have such a regulation. ...
- 7,855
19
votes
Is it "fair use" to summarize a movie?
That depends very much on the specific details. But such a thing is more likely to be held to be fair use if it includes commentary on or criticism of the movie as well as a mere summary of it. Also, ...
- 115k
18
votes
Is it illegal for a firm to train an AI model on a CC BY-SA 4.0 corpus and make a commercial use of it without distributing the model under CC BY-SA?
united-states
The flowchart included in the question is trying to summarize a rather large amount of legal uncertainty into one image. It must be emphasized that each decision point represents an ...
- 5,697
17
votes
D&D Monsters and Copyright
As noted in other answers, no, you are not allowed to use these creatures under Fair Use. You could go back to their original mythological underpinnings (for those that have them), but you would have ...
- 313
15
votes
Accepted
Is this copyright infringement? Is it fair use? What if I don't make any money off it?
In the United States, making a copy without permission is generally going to be a copyright violation, unless the copying is a fair use. Fair-use defenses look at four questions, and the answers to ...
15
votes
Copyright Fair Use: Is using the phrase "Courtesy of" legally acceptable when no permission has been given?
Fair use does not necessarily require attribution and does not dictate any particular form of attribution. Of course, the method of attribution and/or linking to an original source can inform the fair ...
- 72.6k
14
votes
Accepted
Can I share a copy of Adobe Standalone Flash Player?
No. Copyright does not have exemptions for obsolete works, use with credit, or non-commercial use. Depending on the purpose for the distribution, this could be fair use, but it is unlikely that a ...
- 17.3k
14
votes
Accepted
Can a song be used in a presentation for work?
The educational/teaching purposes do not apply to any copyrighted work that you chose to include in the educative material that you might produce.
The educational/teaching purposes means education ...
- 6,398
11
votes
Accepted
Is Apple violating any specific rights of mine by preventing me from taking a fair use screenshot?
Apple has no obligation to allow you to make fair-use copies or extracts.
You have no affirmative right to make them, even if it is not against the law to do so.
- 239k
8
votes
Does musical satire really require permission from the copyright holder?
You’re confusing satire with parody. Parody is when you use the protected work to comment on that work, while satire is when you use it to comment on something else.
If you take R. Kelly’s “I Believe ...
- 24.2k
8
votes
Accepted
Is it legal to use movie frames for creating gifs and using it in mobile apps
I presume from the fact that you mention "fair use" that you're interested in United States law. In that case, the answer is a clear-cut "no".
17 USC 107:
Notwithstanding the ...
- 6,594
8
votes
How can we answer questions about tabletop game rules without infringing copyright?
This kind of quotation, for commentary, criticism, or reference, is generally allowed without obtaining permission. In the US, this falls under fair use (see 17 USC 107. In the UK and most ...
- 115k
8
votes
Why does Japanese entertainment make such backhanded references to brands (e.g. WcDonalds instead of McDonalds)?
This practice isn't just restricted to Japanese entertainment, although it is indeed particularly common there.
Still, the practice, which I call using "fakemarks" (the term is not in wide ...
- 239k
7
votes
Is taking screenshots and printing pages out considered fair use, in most cases?
It is not possible to say that this is generally fair use, although sometimes it would be.
A copy for personal use is still a copyright right violation on its face, and fair use does not categorically ...
- 239k
7
votes
Is this considered copyright infringement?
It's highly unlikely that A would even recognise this as similar. It's really bog standard. A coloured patterned background (in a different colour and with a different pattern). Two buttons. A picture ...
- 35.4k
7
votes
Is it legal to download and run pirated abandonware because I'm curious about the software?
No, but you can find a runnable library copy of much of the most important abandonware legally at the Internet Archive, and in particular, its Software Library archive and Internet Arcade.
- 2,924
7
votes
is it legal to monetize a translation of a foreign song
Most copyright questions at this site are close. This one is not. Your work, in any of the permutations you suggested, would clearly infringe the copyright of the original song copyright owners as a ...
- 239k
7
votes
What are the "fair use" implications of using someone's personal story in a political campaign without their permission?
Does the telling of the story constitute "fair use?" What legal rights
does the "teller" have to tell the story,
This analysis misses a key point. A story about you is not ...
- 239k
7
votes
Copyright Fair Use: Is using the phrase "Courtesy of" legally acceptable when no permission has been given?
In the United States, the First Amendment makes it "legally acceptance" to say "courtesy of" in the absence of permission to copy a piece of copyrighted material -- at least in the ...
- 61.8k
6
votes
Accepted
Parody or Infringement? (United States of America)
The question as worded implies that if something is a parody it is automatically fair use or allowed in US copyright law. This is a myth.
First of all, in a copyright context, the term "parody" is ...
- 115k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible