game cover images

[kharr1027]

How do you get away with using the game cover art on your site and where did you get the images from?

[foxhack]

How do you get away with using the game cover art on your site and where did you get the images from?

We use images sourced from online stores like Amazon, and scans and photos that our own users make / take of their own items. We also accept scans that other people have posted on the internet, as long as they do not have watermarks. All our images are resized to a much smaller size after submission, so they can't really be used for anything other than our collection pages and the signature images that our site generates.

[kharr1027]

and that protects you legally?

[foxhack]

and that protects you legally?

... why do you ask?

[kharr1027]

I have a site I developed I am only using for myself right now but was thinking about converting it to be open for the public. One thing I am lacking is photographs of the games so I was curious how sites like yours and like http://videogames.pricecharting.com have cover art hosted legally.

[badATchaos]

People upload images from where ever. Some take pictures and scan. When it comes to covers and promotional images, they're typically given out to retailers and the press for free anyways.

It's not like photography were the image is the product. By showing a photo, unlicensed, on a site you're basically bootlegging the product. Cover art on the other hand is not the product. It's a representation of the product. While the imagery is technically copyrighted you typically don't see game publishers going around knocking down sites promoting their products. (Unless its YouTube Let's Plays, LOL.) It's not like VGCollect is selling posters or shirts of the cover art.

This site is pretty much non-profit anyways. (There's even a donation system. ) Other than the admins who moderate the entries, there's really one guy running the site. And he's running it on his spare time. I think the worst thing that could happen is to be told to remove the images.

This would be a great question to bring up to Wikipedia. 

[foxhack]

This would be a great question to bring up to Wikipedia. 

They're super anal about the images people upload. They even remove system logos from game cover art.

[campercarl]

Are watermarked images denied because of copyright issues or because of consistency in uploading clean images?

[foxhack]

Are watermarked images denied because of copyright issues or because of consistency in uploading clean images?

Because of clean images. Some of the watermarked images that have been uploaded have nasty ones that cover a huge chunk of the image.

[badATchaos]

They're super anal about the images people upload. They even remove system logos from game cover art.

I figured they did that to keep it ambiguous since many games are multiplatform and they don't necessarily want to promote one version over another.

[exonerator]

The images that we use are copyrighted, but they are covered under U.S. fair use laws because they are of low-resolution, low quality, and are simply used as a method of illustration rather than one of illegal reproduction. Our images are 200px wide, less than even the typical Wikipedia album cover art or movie poster. On a related note, the reason why we don't use MobyGames images or otherwise in the database is because we don't want their watermarks on what are others' copyrighted material. They don't own the copyright, so they shouldn't be watermarking.

If you have any more questions on the legality of web images, refer to Wikipedia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Fair_use/Definition_of_%22low_resolution%22

End of discussion.