Writing a Price/Identification Guide - Photo, Fair Use, Copyright

nalpak said:

I'm in the process of researching for a price/identification guide to a well known type of puzzle. There are big trademarked brand names involved as well as small brands all over the world. I'm planning on a small self published release.

Will I need explicit permission from all the brands I am including in order to include them? There will be photos, short histories on each individual puzzle and brand, inventor biographies, price estimates for vintage puzzles, etc. This is essentially an educational book for puzzle enthusiasts.

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You will need specific, explicit permission from all copyright holders involved.

So if you use someone else's photo of a puzzle you'll need permission to use that photo from the person who owns copyright to it, usually the photographer or the company which employed the photographer to take it. You'll need permission to use it in a commercial setting, as you're going to be publishing the book they're in. You'll need permission to use it in every territory you're going to sell or distribute the book in; and you'll need the permission to specify volume, too. So if you think you'll sell or give away two hundred copies, that's a lot different to having a print run of two hundred thousand.

All these things will affect the cost of obtaining that permission and yep, you as the author are almost certainly going to have to cover that cost.

I'm also sourcing photos from a variety of people and webshops...what is the best way to get permission from them? Does an email reply suffice and how should I cite them in the actual book? If a publisher picks up the book down the line will they require a certain format for permissions from all the photo sources? I have a very small budget and am planning on offering free copies of the book as compensation for photo use...is this a good strategy?

Thanks for the help all!

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Photos online are not likely to be of a high enough resolution to work in a print edition.

Companies will allow shops to use their images free of charge, as the shops are actively selling the items. They are rarely so kind to people who are going to use the photos to sell their own things. If I were you I'd contact the people who created the images, which will probably be the manufacturer.

I would not rely on an email response. I would send hard copy requests, and expect to get hard copy responses. And before you proceed, make sure you get permission from the person who has the authority to grant it: I've seen companies charge for permission to use images which they didn't actually own, which was a bit of a nightmare to untangle after publication.

You cite them by stating the owner, copyright date, and so on. Look at existing books to see what information you need to include. Yes, publishers will have certain requirements for this so make sure you get everything you need.

If your book depends on these photos then you are going to need a large budget to pay for all your permissions. Free copies of the book are unlikely to be considered appropriate payment: I've worked on a few highly-illustrated books where the permissions costs ran into thousands of pounds just for the UK edition.

Fair use is not clearly defined in law, so it can't be relied upon: it is a guideline rather than a specific thing. And it applies to academic work and reviews, rather than commercial work, so even if it were clearly defined it wouldn't apply here.

What you're asking about is copyright. So you need permission from the copyright holders to use those pictures you're interested in. However, the use of brand names is an entirely different thing, which you'll have to investigate. This is a trademark issue rather than a copyright issue. So you should be able to use the trademark names, so long as you don't misrepresent them or show them in a negative way--and for that there's no clear guideline. The individual lawyers involved with those brand names will have their own ideas of what's acceptable, and you'll have to negotiate with them to find a path which pleases everyone involved.

Most important point about fair use: it's an affirmative defense, so it can only be defined or applied after the case is in court, meaning after you've been sued.

nalpak said:

Did the publishers perhaps have a behind the scenes permission from PEZ...with PEZ approving the manuscript but claiming not to be involved?

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Why not ask them?

nalpak, you're doing right by asking so many questions. But it's clear you have little knowledge or understanding of how copyright and trademarks work, or of how you're allowed to use things. I think you need to consult a specialist solicitor to find out exactly what you can and can't do, and how you have to do it. It's all very well asking people online what they think, but that won't protect you legally.