Image permissions and Anonymous art

July 14, 2013 4:26 PM

I'm handling the image permissions process for an academic text that will be published with a major university press early next year, and this is one of the images that the author really wants to include. She originally found it on Facebook when a contact of hers posted it on their wall. I predictably haven't had any luck sourcing it via a reverse image search – the only relevant link that Google returned was to this Twitter account. My previous image licensing expertise has all involved credited photographers and artists, so this intersection with the intentionally anonymous politics of Anonymous has left me scratching my head. How and where would I go to extend my search for a high-res "original", and if obtainable, how would we go about clearing it for publication? Thanks in advance for your help!
posted by avocet to Computers & Internet (5 answers total)

It's likely that this is a cropped portion of a larger work onto which someone photoshopped the mask. You would need to find the original, get permission from the rights owner (if it's not in public domain) to modify it and publish it. Then you'd have to track down the artist who put the mask on to get their permission, or have another artist redo it. (which is a grey area)
What is the budget for rights clearance? Are you allowed to spend an hour? A day? A Month?
You could have an artist extend the sky and bottom and paint in a generic face which may be enough to find the original in a reverse image search. Contacting stock art/photo companies like Getty may work, also art historians.
I would tell her you made a reasonable effort but can't track it down in order to clear the rights.
posted by Sophont at 5:02 PM on July 14, 2013

In addition to the above, that mask design is owned by Time Warner and that may also be a factor in commercial use situations.
posted by quince at 5:20 PM on July 14, 2013 [1 favorite]

Did you try asking @YourAnonArt? Maybe they would help? Unfortunately I wouldn't take any permissions or information they give you at face value due to the potential lulz involved.

Using Google images search I also found the image on the WhyWeProtest forum post "Blackfeet tribe DOES NOT honor LRH" from more than five years ago.
posted by grouse at 5:21 PM on July 14, 2013

You would need to find the original, get permission from the rights owner (if it's not in public domain) to modify it and publish it.

The new image has sufficient originality to be a derivative work, and so its creator is the copyright holder.

It is probably fair use to present it in a academic text, even without permission of the copyright holder. "... Examples of fair use include commentary, search engines, criticism, news reporting, research, teaching, library archiving and scholarship. ...". The university press, as well as the university has lawyers and gurus on retainer or as staff who can confirm that presenting the image in an academic text is fair use.

In addition to the above, that mask design is owned by Time Warner and that may also be a factor in commercial use situations.

Eh. Time Warner does have a copyright and trademark for that Guy Fawlkes mask, but the use by the image creator was again fair use, similar to a hypothetical corporate logo obviously photoshopped onto a photo of a Senator for the reasons of political commentary, or a similar hypothetical political cartoon.
posted by sebastienbailard at 6:02 PM on July 14, 2013 [2 favorites]

This looks like the image prior to it being photoshopped and the mask added. The caption (which is in Portuguese) talks about the Sioux.
posted by gudrun at 10:43 PM on July 14, 2013 [2 favorites]