Copyright Infringement And Photo Sharing: A New Lawsuit Tests The Limits Of Fair Use

[Valin]

Forbes

 

John Villasenor

6/22/13

 

A new court test of fair use on the Internet appears likely, due to a lawsuit filed June 7 by photographer Kai Eiselein against BuzzFeed. Eiselein, who is demanding damages that could total over $3.6 million, claims that BuzzFeed infringed his copyright in a photograph he posted on Flickr in 2009 showing a soccer player heading a ball.

 

(Snip)

 

And what happens when BuzzFeed uses an image that it hasnt licensed? That, suggested Peretti to The Atlantic, can fall under the fair use doctrine of U.S. copyright law: Is it good for the world to have a broad definition of Fair Use where people can create new things that are transformative or that people can enjoy? Peretti said. I think it is good for the world.

 

(Snip)

 

So where does this leave BuzzFeed as it responds to Kai Eiseleins allegations? The company will probably argue that its inclusion of Eiseleins photograph within a larger thematic collection was transformative. But that is unlikely to carry the day. The Second Circuits decision in Cariou v. Princewhich is a binding precedent in the New York federal court where Eiseleins suit was filedrecognized that not all uses are transformative uses: A derivative work that merely presents the same material but in a new form, such as a book of synopses of televisions shows, is not transformative. Its hard to credibly claim that selecting an image to include in a list constitutes a transformation.

 

(Snip)

[Pepper]

about time, @Valin