I'm building a website for a business idea which documents all of the user's magazine subscriptions in one place. I want to use an image of the magazine subscription in question as a thumbnail on the site. Is it legal to just put in an image of the magazine off another site or the publisher's site? Thanks
I am in Ireland Btw.
The copyright laws in the US will differ from those in Ireland. Even in the US, the decisions that come from different courts can differ.
The use of thumbnail images is one area where two different courts in the US have arrived at different decisions, one finding the use of thumbnails a fair use and the other court finding the use of thumbnails infringing on the rights of the copyright holders.
If you want to explore US law, you can search online for the following two cases: Kelly v. Arriba Soft Corp., 336 F.3d 811 (9th Cir 2003) and Perfect 10 v. Google, 416 F.Supp 2d 828 (C.D. Cal 2006). Whether revenue was generated by the use of the copyrighted images was one factor looked at.
That said, you need to concern yourself with the laws in Ireland. That is where the copyright holders will locate you and sue you, if they find your use of their images infringing on their rights.
I suggest you review website plans with an attorney in your area. Good luck.
