Fair Use of Online Images
Aly Singer
Fair Use
As students of Lambert High School, you know the value of using images to add a visual component to your projects, illustrate using a graphic or any of a host of benefits. Using the correct image can definitely take a post from bad to fab very quickly. It can also help tell a story that words alone can’t.
But unless you’re a photographer showcasing your own work, chances are you’ll need to use work created and owned by someone else. There are plenty of sources. While the general rule is that you can’t use a copyrighted work without permission from the owner, there is one significant legal construct that allows millions of people every day to see and share images online. This is called fair use.
The Purpose
The purpose of the Fair Use Doctrine is to allow for limited and reasonable uses as long as the use does not interfere with owners’ rights or impede their right to do with the work as they wish.
Examples
A good example of fair use of an image to use online is product reviews.If you want to review a book, a new piece of technology, a food product or whatever, you’ll likely want to include a photo. But not some washed-out, overexposed, shadowy, laundry in the background kind of photo that you’d take.
So you head to the manufacturer’s website and right-click that image and save it to upload to your site. A photo will not substitute for the actual product, so the owner’s rights should be very minimally affected. Therefore, your right to use the copyrighted image would likely be permitted under fair use.