On 9/26/05, Phil Boswell <phil.boswell(a)gmail.com> wrote:
I have just discovered the school of thought that believes
that including an image in a category contravenes the "Fair Use" principle
because displaying the image on the category page amounts to using the
image
in an unfair way!
Is it me, or is this just plain silly? A category is simply an
organisational tool, not an article. Surely a case can be made that the
proper categorisation of images within an encyclopedia is essential to
using
those images correctly.
As I understand it, if the image is not being used for the purpose of
education, satire, or review, we have no fair use claim to it. This is not
the same as saying it is not a "fair" use of the image, which is a
subjective judgment anyway. Put another way, "fair use" does not mean
"whatever is useful to us". We may only use it in a few specific contexts.
Using them as organizational tools for meta pages about the encyclopedia
doesn't qualify; therefore, such use would constitute copyright violation.
- Ryan