LAWYERS: Are meme pictures public domain?
We all know the popular meme photos on the internet. Some examples include the rage comics' "Forever Alone" and "Me Gusta".
I have been thinking of using meme pictures to use in an iPhone application - which I intend to sell - and just wondered if I should scrap the idea. If these memes are not public domain, using them for commercial reasons could mean a lawsuit. I have looked around for the answer, yet I have found no reputable answers. Most of the meme pictures I have seen do not have a Copyright mark on them, however that does not mean they are not copyrighted. What do you people with law experience think?
The fact that you want to do that proves you are not funny. Memes used to be funny until you newfags came along to make thousands more unfunny ones, so now you can't ever find any. You and your over repeated and mainstream humor can please leave. Get off the computer. Those who made memes before didn't ask for money, and they were funny. Go away sheepy, go back to your cubicle. Go watch some some seth rogan and adam sandler movies.
"Copyright mark"? You admit you know that absence of those marks doesn't automatically mean public domain, so why even mention it?
Anyhoo, the answer is that it's up to YOU to determine which images are copyrighted, based primarily upon when and where they were created or published and the nationality of the author. For instance, if they were published in the USA by a US author in 1977 without copyright notice, they are indeed public domain. If they were published by a foreign author, copyright notice was retroactively waived in 1996 and they are copyrighted for 95 years. OTOH, if they were created in the USA after 1989, or in just about any OTHER country at any time the past 70 years or so, no copyright notice is required and they are automatically copyrighted until they expire (e.g., 95 years from publication, or 70 years from death of the author, depending upon other circumstances).
See the linked chart for a summary of the 18 or so overlapping rules.
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