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Tim Lewis asked if copying a copyrighted cartoon for
marketing purposes is a violation of the author's
(artists's) copyright. The answer is a resounding "yes"!
Although most copyright holders will look the other way if
you copy their work for an in-house newsletter, and
sometimes even for a nonprofit organisation's newsletter,
there is a clause known as "moral rights" that prevents you
from using copyrighted material in a context that the
copyright holder might disapprove of. In this case, the
context is marketing, and thus the copyright holder could
reasonably be expected to be paid for the use of the
cartoon.
Another way to look at this: the artist could reasonably
expect to receive royalties for the use of the cartoon, and
thus, distributing it without permission (or negotiated
royalties) is depriving the person of justified income.
Tim's friend should probably look for a lawyer with a
better grasp of copyright issues!
--Geoff Hart @8^{)}
geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Disclaimer: If I didn't commit it in print in one
of our reports, it don't represent FERIC's
opinion.
