Cover Art Copyright

[Barcey]

Does anyone know if there is a way to find out if the cover art is still covered under copyright? Is it best to just leave the cover image out for the MR uploads?

My understanding is that the cover art copyright could be held by the publisher or the original artist so using the country specific "death plus" rules the book itself might be out of copyright but the cover art might still be covered.

I found this that indicates that thumbnail images are considered fair use but the book covers tend to be larger then thumbnails.

http://johnmiedema.ca/2008/08/12/boo...whats-the-law/

[pdurrant]

The US "works for hire" copyright length rules don't (I think) apply in Canada or most other countries. Copyright in the cover image is for life of the artist + 70 years. If the image isn't out of copyright (life + 50, since MobileRead servers are in Canada) don't use it. If you can't find who did the image, unless it's /very/ old, it's safest not to use it.

Originally Posted by Barcey

Does anyone know if there is a way to find out if the cover art is still covered under copyright? Is it best to just leave the cover image out for the MR uploads?

My understanding is that the cover art copyright could be held by the publisher or the original artist so using the country specific "death plus" rules the book itself might be out of copyright but the cover art might still be covered.

I found this that indicates that thumbnail images are considered fair use but the book covers tend to be larger then thumbnails.

http://johnmiedema.ca/2008/08/12/boo...whats-the-law/