Won’t it infringe someone’s copyrights as long as a clear indication of the name or appellation of the author and the source of the work is provided?
Someone (hereinafter “A”) is fond of photography and often takes pictures outdoors with people having the same habit and then the photographers post all their photographic works on a photography forum where they may learn from one another by an exchange of views. “A” also periodically posts his photographic works on his blog.
One day, the photographic topic is what “A” is most interested in, so he considers forwarding all pictures with relation to the topic taken by others and posted on the photography forum to his own blog to share with people visiting his blog. “A” will clearly indicate the names or appellations of the authors and the sources of the works respectively.
However, A’s friend doubts whether it surely will not constitute an infringement of copyrights for someone to forward a large number of others’ works with clear indication of the name or appellation of the author and the source of the works to his own blog.
Firstly, the pictures taken by a photographer with his own originality belong to photographic works and are protected by copyrights.
According to the Copyright Act in Taiwan, forwarding others’ works to the websites may involve the means of public transmission or reproduction of the works. If such use is not a fair use of a work as stipulated in Article 44 to Article 65 of the Copyright Act, the user shall get a license or the consent to use from the economic rights holder of the works in advance, or such use will be deemed as an infringement of copyright and the user shall bear civil and criminal responsibilities thereof.
Consequently, it is just the obligation to clearly indicate the name or appellation of the author and the source of a work when the user needs to allege his/her use is a kind of fair use based on the Copyright Act. It doesn’t mean that it will not constitute an infringement of copyrights as long as the clear indication of the name or appellation of the author and the source of the work is provided.
Furthermore, it is acceptable to quote others’ works that have been publicly released within a reasonable scope according to Article 52 of the Copyright Act. If “A” merely cites a small quantity of others’ pictures as references and annotations in the photographic book he wrote, it will conform to the meaning of “quote” as stipulated in Article 52 of the Copyright. However, if a work is transmitted through webs, it can reach everywhere of the world. Thus, the chance to regard “forwarding others’ works to the websites” as “fair use” is quite small. If it is necessary to forward someone’s works to the webs, the user had better obtain a license or the consent to use from the economic rights holder of the works in advance for the sake of safety.
Source: TIPO Newsletter No.85 issued on July 05, 2013
http://www.tipo.gov.tw/public/epaper/113/ePaper113_ep7464.htm
Delivered by: JAW-HWA INTERNATIONAL PATENT & TRADEMARK & LAWOFFICES
TAIPEI, TAIWAN
http://www.jaw-hwa.com.tw
