the legalities of blogging

[powderfinger]

Guys, thinking of doing a music blog. Write ups on concerts, album reviews, etc. So My question is this. If I want to do a write up of a Rush album or a Rush concert (for example), is it legal for me to take photos of Rush off other sites (live concert photos, promo shots, album covers, etc) and use them? Same with YouTube videos?

Ive read something about giving credit if you use photos, but probably most of the photos of famous artists I will find are probably lifted from somewhere else to begin with.

[knumbskull]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_use

i'm not an expert - sounds like you would fall under fair use, more or less being news reporting. however i'm guessing it's more complicated than that.

i know of photographers who actively try and prevent this kind of usage.

[hbarcat]

If you plan on doing this for money or at least as a serious hobby then you need to get yourself up to speed on copyright law. This forum isn't the best place to teach you all you need to know about such a complex topic - talk to an expert. Figure out exactly what you intend to do with your blog and then clear everything with your hired expert, before you do it.

[powderfinger]

Originally Posted by hbarcat

If you plan on doing this for money or at least as a serious hobby then you need to get yourself up to speed on copyright law. This forum isn't the best place to teach you all you need to know about such a complex topic - talk to an expert. Figure out exactly what you intend to do with your blog and then clear everything with your hired expert, before you do it.

No, not interested in doing it for money. I want to do the blog as a labor of love for lack of better terms. I love music and I love writing, and I want to build a fan base and share my thoughts, and get feedback/comments on my work.

I am going to look deeper into it. I do think as the previous poster indicated, this *may* fall under fair use. Thats all I can find when I do an internet search on the matter.

Does anyone know the legalities of embedding a YouTube video? I mean, the videos are on YouTube to begin with, and most of the folks who post them probably arent the owners anyway (ie people posting offical videos, interviews from MTV, etc.)

[Bongolation]

Originally Posted by powderfinger

So My question is this. If I want to do a write up of a Rush album or a Rush concert (for example), is it legal for me to take photos of Rush off other sites (live concert photos, promo shots, album covers, etc) and use them?

No, not without permission.

Period.

This is now clearly established in case law. It's not "fair use."

You can link to content on their site, but you cannot display that content on your site.

You can almost always get away with it, though...but don't be surprised if you suddenly find your site deleted by your provider when someone complains.