Jill Morgan Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 I don't know how many of you are following Jeff Bezos' claim of blackmail against AMI (parent company of National Enquirer) and how they have selfies of his junk as well as their right to publish these images. The Enquirer stated in their email "As you know, “the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies . . . for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting . . . is not an infringement of copyright.” 17 USC Sec. 107. " Can some of our American contributors comment on how this is allowed, and do any other countries have such a exception to their copyright law? This could be precedent setting in the US if it ever goes to court. This isn't to get into a debate on Bezos' allegations, but the quoting of the law by AMI. Jill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nacke Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 Sorry Jill, While I find the story amusing and hope that Jeff takes AMI and the ENQUIRER to the cleaners (they could use some cleaning) Just do not think this has any place on the Alamy forum... Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Morgan Posted February 8, 2019 Author Share Posted February 8, 2019 10 minutes ago, Chuck Nacke said: Sorry Jill, While I find the story amusing and hope that Jeff takes AMI and the ENQUIRER to the cleaners (they could use some cleaning) Just do not think this has any place on the Alamy forum... Chuck Chuck, I am not (as stated in my post) wanting to discuss the story. What interests me is AMI's claim that they have the right to publish images taking by Jeff Bezos on his own phone without his permission, as he would hold the copyright to those images. They quote a statute in the copyright law. Do you think anyone has the right to publish any of our photos (whether taken professionally or personally ) without our permission or the permission of our agent? Jill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starsphinx Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 I always thought that the above clause meant that it was fair use to use images of copyrighted whatever - so photos of other peoples work is allowed if you are commenting on said work. Which would mean that if they took photos of his selfies they could publish those photos to comment on the selfies - but they could not publish the actual selfies without permission? But I am no expert and I am UK to boot Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cryptoprocta Posted February 8, 2019 Share Posted February 8, 2019 1 hour ago, Jill Morgan said: Do you think anyone has the right to publish any of our photos (whether taken professionally or personally ) without our permission or the permission of our agent? In the UK, yes for sure. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/exceptions-to-copyright In the US: https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html In Australia: https://www.copyright.org.au/ACC_Prod/ACC/Information_Sheets/Fair_Dealing__What_Can_I_Use_Without_Permission.aspx (you need to click on the download link to get the pdf) In Canada: https://fair-dealing.ca/what-is-fair-dealing and I guess you could find the details for any other country you chose. (NB: I make no comment on the case mentioned in the OP.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Morgan Posted February 9, 2019 Author Share Posted February 9, 2019 1 hour ago, Cryptoprocta said: In the UK, yes for sure. https://www.gov.uk/guidance/exceptions-to-copyright In the US: https://www.copyright.gov/fair-use/more-info.html In Australia: https://www.copyright.org.au/ACC_Prod/ACC/Information_Sheets/Fair_Dealing__What_Can_I_Use_Without_Permission.aspx (you need to click on the download link to get the pdf) In Canada: https://fair-dealing.ca/what-is-fair-dealing and I guess you could find the details for any other country you chose. (NB: I make no comment on the case mentioned in the OP.) The one that confuses me on all these is the term "news reporting" under fair dealing. A fairly ambiguous term. Obviously it doesn't relate to most news, otherwise newspapers would simply lift images from Alamy and other agencies and claim fair dealing to avoid payment. The only examples I could find of fair dealing for news reporting is using excerpts from articles, books or magazines or a clip from a piece of film, otherwise a small portion of the completed work. To relate that to a photograph, then a newspaper would publish a piece of an image? What is considered a acceptable portion to fall under fair dealing? Jill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wiskerke Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 Did he give his phone so that they could have his images? Probably not. If not how did they obtain the images? Is there a law in the US against breaking into someone's phone? I bet there is. Is there a law against using or profiting from stolen goods? Of course there is. So they must somehow fabricate a previous publication, which they can then cover and claim they're entitled to do that because it's newsworthy. It's an old trick that many respectable newspapers are using again and again. What they can not do is steal and publish. What was that UK newspaper again that did this? wim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jill Morgan Posted February 9, 2019 Author Share Posted February 9, 2019 1 hour ago, wiskerke said: Did he give his phone so that they could have his images? Probably not. If not how did they obtain the images? Is there a law in the US against breaking into someone's phone? I bet there is. Is there a law against using or profiting from stolen goods? Of course there is. So they must somehow fabricate a previous publication, which they can then cover and claim they're entitled to do that because it's newsworthy. It's an old trick that many respectable newspapers are using again and again. What they can not do is steal and publish. What was that UK newspaper again that did this? wim His theory is not that they hacked his phone, but that they got someone in the white house to get access to his images and texts on his phone through government channels. But even if they somehow got the images legally, in order to use them under fair dealings, how much of an image would they be allowed to show, if that is the criteria for free use of an image for news reporting. Jill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Nacke Posted February 9, 2019 Share Posted February 9, 2019 Jill, Mostly I was joking, but unfortunately I do have a pretty good idea of how the ENQUIRER got the photos. I've been in the business for a few years and worked on assignment for most publications. I do think that this story is "HUGE" and will end badly for AMI and Pecker and maybe a few other newsworthy names. Chuck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnnie5 Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 This is the latest on the source of the Bezos photos. I think copyright would be one of the lesser offenses committed in this whole affair so may never be addressed. There seems to be groups in the U.S. that have different opinions of what should be allowed under fair use. I found a long opinion piece written by some of the attorneys that worked on Shepard Faireys case with the Obama hope poster, if you have a lot of time to waste you can read it here. http://jolt.law.harvard.edu/articles/pdf/v25/25HarvJLTech243.pdf https://www.syracuse.com/us-news/2019/02/girlfriends-brother-leaked-texts-on-bezos-affair-to-enquirer-report.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spacecadet Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 The UK concept of fair dealing is very narrow and the news exception expressly does not apply to photographs.. (s30(2) CDPA ). The US exception is far wider- it reads like a get-out-of-jail-free card for those who can afford expensive lawyers, and a denial of justice for those (photographers, usually) who can't. Both these parties presumably can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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