Question about films Stills/lobby cards copyright and terms of use

[Aaron Gerow]

> I heard such stills were 'free of use' as long as they were used  
> for magazine (a
> reason why Hotwax has chosen the magazine format?)

This can vary from country to country and from studio to studio. In  
general, the major studios in Japan only allow free use of stills for  
the period the film is in initial release (or coming out on DVD soon  
thereafter). After that, you need permission and must sometimes pay a  
usage fee. Independent companies are more willing to let you use them  
for free, but you should definitely contact them as well. Stills are  
copyrighted material and should be handled with care. In most cases,  
it does not matter where it is being published. US academic  
publishers these days are demanding written permission for all stills  
used that may still be copyrighted.

Aaron Gerow
KineJapan owner

Assistant Professor
Film Studies Program/East Asian Languages and Literatures
Yale University

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