Here at Travel Pizza we fully appreciate the efforts of the photographers who take such wonderful travel photos and we respect the copyright laws that give them certain rights to their photos. With that in mind we operate under the Fair Use Doctrine which is codified in 17 U.S.C. § 107 as follows:

17 U.S.C. § 107

Notwithstanding the provisions of sections 17 U.S.C. § 106 and 17 U.S.C. § 106A, the fair use of a copyrighted work, including such use by reproduction in copies or phonorecords or by any other means specified by that section, for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching (including multiple copies for classroom use), scholarship, or research, is not an infringement of copyright. In determining whether the use made of a work in any particular case is a fair use the factors to be considered shall include:

– the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes;
– the nature of the copyrighted work;
– the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and
– the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

The fact that a work is unpublished shall not itself bar a finding of fair use if such finding is made upon consideration of all the above factors.

The law allows for the reasonable unauthorized use of an original work when that use advances the public welfare. There have been several cases that support the use of digital images under Fair Use Doctrine under certain circumstances. For example, in 2003, Kelly v Arriba Soft Corporation established that the use of thumbnails is sufficiently transformative to fall under fair use. In addition, the fact that the photographs had already been published diminished the significance of their nature as creative works. Finally, the court found that the market for the original photographs would not be substantially diminished by the creation of the thumbnails. To the contrary, the thumbnail searches could increase exposure of the originals.

Travel Pizza has been created to document, categorize and comment on images from locations around the world for the enjoyment, edification and planning purposes of the individual users of the site. All images shown are thumbnail sized and link to the page containing the original image where users can see the image in full resolution as well as accessing contact information and copyright information for each respective image. Only previously published images are included on the site and given the nature of internet usage it is safe to say that the inclusion of an image on Travel Pizza can easily increase exposure of the originals.

If you are the copyright holder of any image displayed on Travel Pizza and disagree with our Fair Use of the images please feel free to contact us.