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Rights issue: using news website screenshots in video
I’m working on a newsmagazine style piece for a corporation which details current events related to their industry. For most of the script, I have found stock footage or creative commons footage.
However, for a couple topics, I have found no such material. I want to cut together a couple of screen captures of news sites with headlines/photos/videos pertaining to the subject, along with some of the text showing on-screen. Does anyone know: would that fall under “fair use” or do I need to obtain permission (if the latter, does anyone have experience knowing how long that process would take)?
Any advice is appreciated, thanks.
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3 Replies
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When searching for legal advice it’s best to consult a qualified lawyer.
[randall wurster] “Does anyone know: would that fall under “fair use” or do I need to obtain permission “
100% depends on the context it’s used in so, unfortunately, until you do it and show it to a legal expert no one can say.
[randall wurster] “if the latter, does anyone have experience knowing how long that process would take”
It totally depends on the person/company that owns the material (assuming you can pay what they are asking and that they would even be willing to license it to you in the first place).
Also, keep in mind Fair Use won’t prevent someone from suing you (justifiably or not).
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Thanks Andrew – that’s helpful. Good point about fair use not preventing legal action, justified or not.
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Almost certainly, the news clips are off limits unless you pay for them.
An excuse that often comes up here is: “It’s just for internal use only”.
Ever since the internet was invented, that sentence is now and forever meaningless.
No matter what the original intentions were, whatever you make, you MUST EXPECT that somehow, by accident or design out of your control, it WILL eventually get out “in the wild”. i.e. into the public eye. And you will be responsible for it.
Those clips were commercially produced for profit. Just like the stock footage you purchased. The originators control it’s re-use. You want it, you have to reach out tot them and usually pay *something* for it.
Fair use is not a free pass to use anything for free. It is the final lifeboat you cling to in court after having been found guilty of appropriating other people’s work without clearance or payment.
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