Art.Net News Flash!
A Question of "Fair Use"?
Posted August 8th, 2006
On August 7th, 2006 there was a court ruling that stripped the validity of copyrights on published art work.An artist brought a case against the San Jose Mercury News for copyright infringement because they published his art without his knowledge or consent. It was published in conjuction with a book reveiw of a book that contained a copyrighted photo that belonged to the artist and photographer, Christopher R Harris. The copyright notice that was printed with the photo in the book was removed when the image was published by the Mercury News paper.
When the artist confronted the paper, they said that they were unwilling to compensate the artist and suggested that the artist "sue" them if he wanted to persue the matter. So he did just that! Ubnfortunately the jury ruled in favor ot the newspaper saying that it was a case of "fair use".
All artists should be aware and concerned about the outcome of this case. The courts have sent a clear message that copyrights do not protect an artist's published works.
This will most likely cause artists to be less willing to share their art in a public medium such as a book and or within websites on the Internet.
I encurage all artists who read this, to contribute to the discussion about the issue of "fair use" in this case. A good place to do this is on the blog mentioned below.
This is not the first incidence of this paper publishing an artist's work with out their knowledge or consent. This paper has done this to many artists (200+ and counting!) and they are getting away with it!
How can this be considered "fair use", I ask you.
Sites and Articles related to this case:
- David and Goliath in the Media World
An ongoing blog about this case published in "Ethical Concerns in a Digital World".
- PDNewsWire: Newspaper Prevails In Fair Use Lawsuit
August 08, 2006 by Daryl Lang
An article published in Photo District News concerning the case.
- "Mercury News wins lawsuit: USE OF PHOTO BROUGHT PHOTOGRAPHER'S CLAIM"
August 8, 2006 by Sandra Gonzales of the Mercury News
An article published in the San Jose Mercury News about the outcome of the case in favor of the San Jose Mercury News.
- U.S.District Court/ California Northern District (San Francisco) Electronic Case Filing Site
If you have an account on this site, you can see the Civil Docker for Case#: 3:04-cv-05262-CRB which relates to this case. There are 375 files logged for this case.
Posted on August 8, 2006 by Lile Elam (Webmaster of Art.Net)
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