Fair Use Question

Animal Pictures

[woop01]

We have a section of a site where we have setup online reviews for various animals that produce semen for sale (sorry, I tried to find a way to change it to the old "blue widgets" example). People can leave their review of the animal's offspring and we have various vital stats and commentary on the animals such as owner, stud price, etc.

We are questioning whether it is acceptable to use pictures of these animals in the reviews. The review section is entirely free and doesn't require an account sign up. Our benefit is the increased attention it brings the site and the SEO advantage it gives.

How concerned should we be with using pictures of these animals? I realize fair use is an extremely gray area. What other questions do we need to answer to know if this falls under fair use?

[BigDave]

Doesn't sound like much of a gray area to me. It is almost certainly not Fair Use. Only use the pictures with the permission of the copyright owner.

While criticism and commentary give you legitimate claims of Fair Use, the commentary must be in relation to the photo, not the subject of the photo.

Review sites are lawssuit magnets, there is no need to add to that threat.

Contact the owners of the animals to ask if they would provide PR photos for you to use, which would also provide you with the permission.

[woop01]

Thanks, that makes it much easier.