By Mike Hiestand
Everyone wants Bart. Or SpongeBob. Or one of those Aqua Teen Hunger Force dudes. Each year, student yearbook editors from across the country call the Student Press Law Center to ask how they can get an image of Bart Simpson (of the FOX-TV animated show, “The Simpsons”) – or whoever the cartoon character de jour happens to be – into their yearbook or other publication without running afoul of copyright law. They usually receive both some good news and some bad news. The bad news is that they may not be able to use Bart in precisely the way they had hoped. Bart is a copyrighted image and federal copyright law restricts its use. The good news, however, is that with a little extra work, planning and creativity, it should be possible to legally include Bart in some way.
Let’s start with what you can’t do.
No matter how much of a Bart fan you are or how technically easy it is to accomplish, you can’t just download his photo off the Internet or scan it out of a magazine and paste it into your yearbook or newspaper. Including a standalone image of Bart, without permission, for no other reason than you think his smirking face will improve the style or appeal of your publication is against the law. And unfortunately, having one of your staff members trace or freehand copy Bart’s image for the same purpose does nothing to help your cause. Such use would still violate federal copyright law.
But hey, “Don’t have a cow, man!” There are ways to legally include Springfield’s favorite son (or Bikini Bottom’s friendly sponge or that weird, floating red box of french fries from New Jersey) in your student yearbook or other publication.
Obtain permission. The safest, most straightforward way to publish an image of Bart is to contact Bart’s copyright owner, Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation (“Fox”), and seek permission. While you can try calling or e-mailing, copyright owners – particularly huge media companies such as Fox – will generally require that you put your request in writing. (Fox Television’s address: Twentieth Century Fox Television, Attn: Copyright Permissions, 10201 W. Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90035.)
There are typically two ways to obtain permission: pay for it or beg for it. For most cash-poor high school student media, only the second option is realistic. When requesting permission, it is important to provide as much information as you can about how you intend to use Bart’s image. If possible, include a sketch or mock layout that shows your plans. Providing insufficient details make it more likely Fox officials will need to contact you for additional information, thereby delaying what can already be a lengthy process. You also need to reasonably describe your publication (specifically, that you are a noncommercial, high school yearbook with limited funds) and that you are nonprofit (that is, any money you make goes into paying publication expenses and to improve the school program). Also, it is important to let them know how many copies of your publication you plan to print and to whom and how it will be sold. Finally, be sure to provide full and accurate contact information (editor/adviser names, address, telephone numbers, e-mail). If your yearbook or school has letterhead stationary, use it. It is also a good idea to (politely and tactfully) alert them of any deadlines you have. A fair warning: obtaining permission is not something you should expect to do last minute. A permissions request from a high school yearbook is, unfortunately, not likely to be a high priority and you must allow plenty of time (generally months, rather than weeks). Keep in mind also that obtaining permission is no sure thing. Some companies have a blanket policy against granting permissions. So have a “Plan B.”
Fair Use. As an alternative to seeking – and obtaining – explicit permission from Fox (note that simply including a credit line, such as “Courtesy of Fox Television,” without having actually received such permission, won’t cut it), you may also be able to legally publish Bart’s image if you do so for certain purposes and in a particular way. The law allows for the limited use of copyrighted material without first obtaining permission if the use qualifies as what is known as a “fair use.” The fair use exception is essentially a balancing test that weighs the right of a copyright owner to control his or her work against the need of society to reasonably share and discuss information. While a detailed discussion of the doctrine of fair use takes a bit of time, here are some things you can do to legally get Bart in your book.
News reporting. If you do a bona fide news story on some aspect of “The Simpsons” television show you can probably use an editorially appropriate size image of Bart to illustrate the piece. For example, “The Simpsons,” which began regularly airing in 1989, is the longest-running American sitcom, and most American high school students today have never known the show not to be on TV. Reporting on the show’s longevity, discussing the impact Bart and Co. have had on American culture and the lives of the Class of 2008 or perhaps covering a recent controversial episode are all legitimate news topics that would allow for the fair use of a modest-sized illustration from “The Simpsons.” You would still want to credit the source (for example, “Source: Fox.com”), but Fox’s permission to use the image in this way is not a prerequisite.
News survey. Who are the top five favorite cartoon characters among students at your school? Conducting a legitimate survey of your classmates and accurately reporting the results would also likely qualify as a form of news reporting for purposes of fair use. The survey would need to be an honest effort to sample student opinion – and not just throwing out a quick question to the ten people that happen to be in the yearbook room at the time – but assuming Bart is one of the top vote getters, you should be able use his image to illustrate those results. Again, the image would have to be reasonably sized. Using a full-page, full-color image picture of Bart to illustrate your survey probably isn’t fair to Fox, which makes money by selling such poster-size images, and would likely not qualify as a fair use.
Critique or Commentary. As with news reporting, fair use also allows for limited, modest uses of otherwise copyrighted material (a photo of Bart or a snippet of dialogue from the show) to illustrate a review of “The Simpsons” or explain your critique of the show’s writing or technical/artistic quality. The review doesn’t have to be lengthy or exceptionally insightful, but it can’t be a sham and should represent a reasonable attempt to provide your readers with useful or entertaining information. (More information on fair use is available on the SPLC website at: www.splc.org.)
If including Bart in your publication is the goal, taking the time required to understand and play by the rules should allow you to do so legally and limit those “Moments of ‘Doh!'”