Copyright Aid

Hi, My first attempt to get clarification of a point in this legal minefield of copyright and commercial use. Someone copies a picture from a site which clearly states that they can use that picture for their own personal use, the person then gives me that picture and asks me to frame it for his own personal use ( not resale ) I will of course make a charge for this service, could it be said that I am using that picture for my own commercial use, and therefore it is illegal? I can see why you may well say that yes I am doing exactly that, if that is the case surely that would mean that companies offering framing or any other picture treatment as a service are treading on very thin ice legally.

No, I cannot see that this would be 'using that picture for my own commercial use' at all. It is the framing that is the commercial service, you are not 'using' the picture itself

Copyright is infringed if any of the following is carried out without permission:
Copy the work.
Rent, lend or issue copies of the work to the public.
Perform, broadcast or show the work in public.
Adapt the work.

If all you are doing is framing the picture for someone I cannot see that you have done anything illegal.

Hope that helps....

Hi,
Many thanks for that, it certainly answers most of my questions about commercial use and with a positive answer.
Just one last query concerning one of the points you make. Many companies are now offering extra services, for example, to treat a picture so that it appears to be an oil painting on canvas, place the picture on gift items such as a mug or tea tray etc, even to make the picture into a jigsaw, could any of these be considered as adaptation ?.

Yes...
If any of those acts you are making a reproduction/copy of the original. That does require consent.

The difference in the framing is that you do not reproduce the image.

Thanks I get the general point about reproduction/copy of the original, you state that any of these acts I quoted would require consent but in two of the examples I gave there would surely be no reproduction or copying, ie, the oil painting or jigsaw, the work would be done to the original, a one off for the customer.

oops...

Ah, I see, the point being is that an adaptation?

I have always taken adaptation (in a copyright context) to mean the creation of a derivative work; that is to say take an existing work and create another work based on that work (i.e. there is still some form of reproduction). With the the usual 'this is not legal advice' caveat, I cannot imagine that what you state would be considered illegal if it is the same physical photo. i.e you take the photo, stick it onto board, trim and cut into jigsaw pieces.

Sorry for confusion, I was assuming that (for example) the jigsaw would be made by copying the photo onto board, i.e. the client brings you a photo and leaves with the original photo AND a jigsaw. Which of course would involve reproduction.

To cover myself , I will say if you are going to offer these services to clients, I would still recommend that you consult a solicitor, just to make sure you have covered all the bases.

Hi Again,
Many thanks for all of that, it has helped me to understand the basic requirements of the law. It will be interesting to see if anyone else wants to join in with their particular understanding or experiences on this matter. There are obviously many people already offering such services. (hopefully legally).