Syndetics/Bowker makes money in selling media cover image thumbnails.
Does Bowker has a license from the publishers to do that? I think so, I
think the publisher's make some money off it.  Therefore there is some
commercial value in cover images, and effect on the commercial value of
those copyrighted cover images to give away thumbnails for free.

Therefore, there is some commercial value to the copyright holders in
cover images, which might mean that a judge would decide different in a
case about cover images. Or might not. Commercial impact/value is just
ONE of the four criteria of fair use in the US.

There is seldom any black and white in copyright in the 21st century.

Jonathan

Peter Keane wrote:
> Actually, this is one of a number of links out there (esp. regarding the
> Arriba Soft case) suggesting that fair use, regarding thumbnail images,
> is quite often the applicable standard, the key (often) being that there
> is no "Effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the
> copyrighted work".
>
> It's just depressing to me that the society, in the shadow of DCMA, RIAA
> action, etc. has essentially cowered in the face of these copyright
> issues, and I would go so far as to say the we librarians often abrogate
> our duty. I mean it is our job to *create* access to information
> not *prevent* it. Right? Geez, nothing like the free flow of information
> getting privatized. My aim is just to promote the idea of assuming that
> "information wants to be free" and proceed under that assumption unless
> there is clear and obvious proof otherwise.
>
> Looked at another way: a thumbnail is just a bit of "visual" metadata,
> and you cannot copyright metadata.
>
> --peter keane
>
> On Mon, May 19, 2008 at 03:50:35PM -0500, Jonathan Gorman wrote:
>
>>> Another link about thumbnail images not being copyright-able:
>>>
>>> http://www.publicknowledge.org/node/947
>>>
>>>
>> I don't think this particular case is saying thumbnail images are not copyrightable, but rather that the creation of them is fair use.  I haven't read it closely, but if you look at the case and some of the description it's talking about the thumbnail images created by Google itself to represent another source.  The key words here are "highly transformative".  Google is transforming an existing work and creating a derived work for a non-competitive purpose (as the judge ruled).  Much in  the similar way traditionally creating indexes and the like are protected by copyright.
>>
>> Just copying another source's thumbnail does not seem to be quite the same.  After all, you are then not doing anything to the thumbnail, just copying it.  How do you what you are then printing/publishing counts as transformative work or that the "new work" derived from the existing one is not in itself copyrighted to the person who originally transformed it?  For example, were I to compose a play and then you made a series of paintings inspired by it, it's different enough I would probably not be infringing on copyright.  That doesn't mean my paintings are now not under copyright.
>>
>> Of course, I'm not a lawyer, but it does seem a leap to make off of what I have read in these documents.
>>
>> Jon Gorman
>>
>> ---- Original message ----
>>
>>> Date: Mon, 19 May 2008 15:23:49 -0500
>>> From: Peter Keane <[log in to unmask]>
>>> Subject: Re: [CODE4LIB] free movie cover images?
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>>
>>> Hi All-
>>>
>>> Perhaps for some reason these precedents do not apply here (although I
>>> doubt it) -- I am no lawyer. But I DO think that it is our responsibilty
>>> as librarians and educators to *not* shy away from cases where copyright
>>> issues are not clear and obvious. It is our job to provide the highest
>>> possible service to our users, not to be timid in the face of false
>>> and/or faulty claims about copyright infingement.
>>>
>>> --peter keane
>>>
>>> On Mon, May 19, 2008 at 03:00:08PM -0500, Charles Ledvina wrote:
>>>
>>>> I know my suggestion is probably filled with copyright infringements but
>>>> you could use your Amazon API to get links to all of their images. Your
>>>> url would look something like this:
>>>>
>>>> http://webservices.amazon.com/onca/xml?Service=AWSECommerceService&SubscriptionId=[your_api_code]&Operation=ItemSearch&SearchIndex=Blended&Keywords=[upc_code]ResponseGroup=Images
>>>>
>>>> Using the 024 will usually generate a unique result and then you can
>>>> choose from a variety of image sizes.  I have a kind of API of an API
>>>> service running at chopac.org as an example.  Simply enter a UPC or ISBN
>>>> and you get back an xml file with cover link and product link. Small,
>>>> medium (default) and large images are available by adding s, m or l at
>>>> the end of the UPC.
>>>>
>>>> Examples:
>>>>
>>>> Simspons Movie-- http://chopac.org/cgi-bin/tools/upc2image.pl?024543484271
>>>> Simpsons Movie (small image)--
>>>> http://chopac.org/cgi-bin/tools/upc2image.pl?024543484271s
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> The product link is supplied to somewhat fulfill Amazon's requirements
>>>> to link to their items.
>>>>
>>>> Later,
>>>> Charles Ledvina
>>>> infosoup.org
>>>> chopac.org
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Ken Irwin wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi folks,
>>>>>
>>>>> With some limitations, the Google Books API allows folks to access book
>>>>> covers for free. (How's that working out? Anyone having luck with it?)
>>>>> -- what about movie/DVD/VHS covers? Are there any free sources for those
>>>>> images?
>>>>>
>>>>> I'd like to work up a virtual-browsing interface for our library's
>>>>> pretty small collection of feature films, and I'd love to include
>>>>> covers. Any ideas on how I might get them? Anyone else doing this?
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks
>>>>> Ken
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> Ken Irwin
>>>>> Reference Librarian
>>>>> Thomas Library, Wittenberg University
>>>>>
>
>

--
Jonathan Rochkind
Digital Services Software Engineer
The Sheridan Libraries
Johns Hopkins University
410.516.8886
rochkind (at) jhu.edu