Legal Question in Intellectual Property in California

Scanning a newspaper ad constitute copyright infringement?

I'd like to post events (e.g. sale) to online calendars and plan to scan the newspaper ad and post the image to my website so that surfers can view the ad on the event.

My question:

(1) Does the above (posting the scanned image or scanning itself) constitute an infringement to copyright?

(2) Whose copyright is that, btw? The newspaper company, advertising agency or the seller?

TQ very much. Anticipating your profound advice.


Asked on 6/21/06, 10:25 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Timothy J. Walton Internet Attorney

Re: Scanning a newspaper ad constitute copyright infringement?

What you describe would infringe the copyright of the owner(s) of the images and text used in the ad. The owners may be one or more of the entities you list, and it depends on who created the ad copy and images, whether there was any written agreement between the parties, and whether there was any licensing of work owned by others.

Scanning the ad would create one digital copy. That would be one infringing copy.

Posting the scanned image online would create another digital copy every time it was rendered by a browser or otherwise downloaded from wherever you posted it, resulting in lots and lots of infringing copies.

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Answered on 6/21/06, 10:46 pm


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