Copyright Aid

Hi again scamp210, I'm sorry that your consultation with the solicitor was not as useful as it might have been. Unfortunately intellectual property law is something of a niche specialisation and so a generalist solicitor won't always have the detailed knowledge required to advise on the matter other...

Hi darinfan,

Yes, the country of origin in that case would be the USA and so the only law you need to worry about is US law; as it's out of copyright there, it's out of copyright everywhere.

Hi darinfan, You have every right to be confused. The way in which the USA calculated its copyright term didn't change until the 1976 Copyright Act so it will be some time yet before things become simpler to sort out. The USA has always played by its own idiosyncratic rules when it comes to copyrigh...

Hi Sajah, Without knowing more about these particular mannequins, I would think they are in the same category as the dolls which you asked about. Probably even more than the dolls, mannequins can be expected to be photographed especially when they are 'wearing' items of fashion wear, and so it would...

Hi scamp, As you are thinking of getting legal advice on this it would be best if I don't comment on the specifics of how you should proceed - that's a job for your legal adviser. However I would suggest not contacting Reuters for a quote at this stage, although it might be sensible to get clarifica...

Hi snape, For example, could I write an article in the form of "The BBC has reported that...." and then write it using the salient facts in the article (but obviously not just copying the original)? Would I need to include a link to the original source? Could I use quotes and data publishe...

Hi scamp210, First of all, yes, PicRights is a legitimate business, although their business model is reminiscent of the people who jumped on the PPI bandwagon, or place ads asking "Had an accident that wasn't your fault?' A copyright owner is perfectly entitled in law to recover what ever he or...

Hi IdontThinkSo, Welcome to the forums. Can you point to some evidence to support your assertion? While you might think that 'fair usage' rights and 'second usage doctrine' [sic] are nonsense, they are in fact legal principles and I provided links to back that up. The only case which goes some way t...

Hi Sandow, Taking your last point first, I would recommend temporarily removing the image from your website as this removes the possibility of being accused of flagrancy at a later stage. It is not an admission of liability. Then turning to the demand which has been sent to you. This will almost cer...

H Sandow, I suspect that the issue will revolve around the exact terms of the licence that the publishers negotiated to use the image in the first place. It is likely that, at the very least, the licence allowed them to manipulate the original photograph (say by cropping or varying the colours due t...

Hi MrsJ, Assuming the poetry is in copyright, then reading it 'in public' is a right which is reserved to the copyright owner (see section 19 of the Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988). The 'in public' bit is tricky. Normally the public in this instance would be any random members of the public ...

Hi Grey1092, We need to differentiate between the legal position and the likely reaction from the brand owners. Legally, I think that so long as you use material taken from genuine Dior etc articles and apply it to the joggers, this falls within the exhaustion of rights or first sale doctrines, and ...

Hi rg 67, If they engage solicitors they will undoubtedly add these legal costs onto whatever they demand from you. However their ultimate course of action is to sue in the courts and for this sort of claim that would mean the small claims track of the Intellectual Property Enterprise Court (IPEC). ...

Hi rg67, First of all, in the immortal words of Corporal Jones, don't panic. If the normal licence fee for this image is £121 +VAT (ie £145.20) per year and you did in fact have it on your site for 5 years as they allege, the damages they are entitled to claim would be 5 x £145.20 = £726. Their orig...

Hi Natalie, I very much doubt that they would have a representative in Singapore if they are writing to you from elsewhere. They would need to engage a local person or fly in someone which would cost money and is totally counter to their business model, namely to run a cheap, lean admin and maximise...