Screen Capture Collection

[Alienesse]

I have a bit of a dilemma that I'm hoping someone here might be able to help me with. I've been amusing myself lately by taking screen captures from Quantum Leap DVDs and I was thinking that it would be nice if I put them up on the Internet somewhere so that other people have access to them if they're interested.

My problem is that I don't know if that's legal. I own original DVDs so I wouldn't be using pirated material or anything, and my endeavor would merely be a fan tribute to the show. Under these circumstances, would putting a collection of screen captures on the Internet be considered an infringement of the copyright on the show?

I would basically be doing the same thing TrekCore's doing with screen caps from Star Trek. If anyone has relevant knowledge on this issue, I would be very grateful if you could clear this up for me.

Thanks!

 

[Mr. B]

Copyright Act: Section 107

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include —
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107


Creating such a repository could fall within the realm of "research." TrekCore seems to exist without incident so I can't imagine anyone raising a stink over Quantum Leap. So long as you do not assert copyright over the work (claim it's yours) or profit from it, you should be fine.

 

[Alienesse]

Thank you so much, Mr. B!

I suppose if I add a disclaimer somewhere stating that the rights for the show belong to their rightful owner and that my site is for entertainment purposes only, it should put me even farther in the clear.

 

[Mr. B]

Trekcore for example has this at the bottom of every page.

Star Trek in all forms is copyright and trademark of CBS Paramount Studios which has no affiliation with TrekCore.com

Personally I wouldn't declare that the site is for "entertainment purposes" as that does not exactly fall under fair use.

 

[Tom]

Trekcore is the king site for all Star Trek related images. Galacticabbs.com has the most BSG related pics of any site all with out issue. So, in general, I would not worry about it, especially for a 20 year old show.

 

[Alienesse]

Thanks, guys! Your advice is much appreciated. I think I'm gonna do this.

 

[RandyS]

There is also a site dedicated exclusively to screencaps, and has the complete collection of Farscape, and are currently working on, among other things, Babylon 5, so I wouldn't worry about it.

Do you need special permission for this type of website? A licence to run one?

 

[Alienesse]

Do you need special permission for this type of website? A licence to run one?

You know, that's a good question. I would guess that if you put up a copyright notice on your website, then you're pretty much covered as far as a special permission or license is concerned. Does TrekCore have such a license from CBS? Or Galacticabbs.com from whoever owns the rights for BSG?

I'll have to do some more research, look at the other screen cap websites and see how they're handling it.

But I was thinking of doing it as a blog. It seems like the easiest way and I'm not exactly prepared to pay for web hosting. I don't have that many screen caps anyway so I wouldn't take up a lot of server space.

 

[Mr. B]

Do you need special permission for this type of website? A licence to run one?

Fair use does not require permission. If it did, Saturday Night Live, for example, would have to ask every time it wanted to parody a copyrighted work.

 

[Alienesse]

Well, I've done it. Here is a link to the first draft of my blog, if you care to have a look.

Criticism and suggestions are welcome, of course.

 

[Ar-Pharazon]

Copyright Act: Section 107

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 106 and 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include —
(1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
(2) the nature of the copyrighted work;
(3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
(4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.
The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap1.html#107


Creating such a repository could fall within the realm of "research." TrekCore seems to exist without incident so I can't imagine anyone raising a stink over Quantum Leap. So long as you do not assert copyright over the work (claim it's yours) or profit from it, you should be fine.

The funny thing is, on youtube, some shows can have entire episodes posted without a peep from the copyright owner, while another show gets removed when there are only clips posted.

It really depends what company is involved. Viacom is really anal, and yeah, Paramount doesn't seem to mind.

 

[FalTorPan]

Do cold androids dream of electric blankets? Just wondering.