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cleolindaAttn: Etsy people: If you are selling anything--say, pins or buttons--made with pictures from movies, that's copyright infringement. As in, it's (let's say) Summit Entertainment's right to decide who gets to make money off images from (let's say) Twilight. It's one thing if you're going to do Twilight-"themed" jewelry; it's another to actually use movie stills. If you don't specifically have their permission, they could very easily come after you. And all they would really have to do is search "Twilight buttons," which is what I did after someone told me about it.
How is this different from icons on LJ or "flair" on Facebook? It's different because you're making money off it. I'm not going to rat anyone out, but... it's a bad idea. And I don't know about Etsy, but I know on CafePress that sellers have to agree in the terms of service not to sell anything they don't have the rights to, so the same goes for them, too.
And who knows--maybe they're too busy rushing out sequels on a five-dollar budget to go after you. But I know other movie studios have done it, and some of them are testier about it than others. If you want to roll those dice, be my guest. Just don't ask me to contribute.
ETA: Hm. A lawyer weighs in.
How is this different from icons on LJ or "flair" on Facebook? It's different because you're making money off it. I'm not going to rat anyone out, but... it's a bad idea. And I don't know about Etsy, but I know on CafePress that sellers have to agree in the terms of service not to sell anything they don't have the rights to, so the same goes for them, too.
And who knows--maybe they're too busy rushing out sequels on a five-dollar budget to go after you. But I know other movie studios have done it, and some of them are testier about it than others. If you want to roll those dice, be my guest. Just don't ask me to contribute.
ETA: Hm. A lawyer weighs in.
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Date: 2009-02-12 03:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 03:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 03:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 03:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 03:40 pm (UTC)Funnily enough, there is some nicely made jewelry inspired by the books/movies that's less "I just put a movie still on a pendant!" and more "I made art the love story inspired!". Some of it I only saw the thumbnail for and thought, "Oh, that's pretty!" and brought it up to look closer and, "Ha, your version of Renesmee's promise ring, very
creepyfunny. But still pretty, damn it."no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 03:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 03:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 03:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 03:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 03:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 03:51 pm (UTC)Hah, I still hold that that stupid promise ring (or was it a bracelet?) was the creepiest thing in the books, bar none. Ick!
no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 03:57 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 04:01 pm (UTC)*ahem* The stupid, we will always have with us.
Linkspam fodder
Date: 2009-02-12 04:02 pm (UTC)Anyway, here are some of the better articles/videos:
Joaquin Phoenix, Letterman make remarkable TV (http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/zontv/2009/02/joaquin_phoenix_letterman_ston.html)
Joaquin Phoenix on Letterman: Real or hoax, that was good TV (http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2009/02/joaquin-phoenix.html)
Letterman: Joaquin Phoenix weirder than Farrah (http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-joaquin-phoenix-letterman-090212-story,0,6955108.story)
Peace.
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Date: 2009-02-12 04:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 04:11 pm (UTC)The escapade you linked to evaded me but damn o_O
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Date: 2009-02-12 04:21 pm (UTC)DEV: Uh, we're not stupid. We totally have permission to use all the artwork.
ACTUAL ARTISTS: Why, no. No, you do not!
Basically it was take down all the illegal artwork or GTFO Facebook + Lawsuit!
no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 04:22 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 04:22 pm (UTC)Perhaps this educational YouTube video we watched in class would help them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2MZi0tmzo0
I like it mostly because it uses Disney clips as examples, but it's instructive, too.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 04:40 pm (UTC)If you purchase magazines or books or CDs or DVDs, you can do anything you want to with the physical item you purchased, other than make a copy of it. This means that you can take the cover of a copy of Breaking Dawn and laminate it, sparkle-ize it, and turn it into a wallet. You can melt and bend the DVD into a bracelet. Or you can get copies of a tie-in magazine and make decoupage earrings, bracelets, jewelry boxes, etc. You can pull the pages out of a copy of the book - purchased new or used! - and paper machie them into an ipod case, or take the photos you took of Robert at the premiere and print out a zillion copies and put them in frames and sell them because you own the copyright to those photos.
The Powers That Be may try to claim trademark infringement but there are specific cases, including last summer's Tiffany v eBay (http://www.eff.org/cases/tiffany-v-ebay)case, which put at least some onus on the auction/sale site to ensure that the complaints are specific, even if they don't have to determine the validity. And yes, eBay's VERO program is hard to fight (YouTube's DMCA program is less cumbersome and more fairly applied, IMHO), but what a private business doesn't allow does not mean that something is copyright or trademark infringement.
The above only applies in the US, and is not actually legal advice, just some thoughts.
Re: Linkspam fodder
Date: 2009-02-12 04:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 04:49 pm (UTC)But you cannot turn a profit off it. That is where copyright infringement comes into play.
Secondly, the movie is not out one DVD yet, so either way, anyone selling jewelry with screenshots on it can not have bought their own copy in the first place. Not that it matters, because they still cannot sell it for a profit.
no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 04:56 pm (UTC)But you cannot turn a profit off it.
Yes, you can. It's no different from selling a first printing of a novel on eBay for 100 times the cover price, just because it's a first printing. If I had a copy of, say Harry Potter & the Philosopher's Stone that I had paid ten pounds for (which I don't), there is nothing blocking me from selling that copy for ten thousand pounds now. In the US, a trademark-holder cannot take action against someone who re-sells something that the trademark-holder put on the market.
I agree with you regarding screencaps because they are copies and were not placed into the market by the trademark-holder, and also about DVDs at this point but as re DVDs, in six weeks? Game on with the physical item, especially as I am a fangirl of things like this (http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2007/09/ipod_cases_inside_of_cass.html?CMP=OTC-0D6B48984890).
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Date: 2009-02-12 04:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-02-12 05:06 pm (UTC)In short? Not the same thing at all.