Fair Use / Copyright Laws - Screenshots and Sound Bites

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aco2113

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My friend and I are looking to develop a Trivia game for the iPhone. The game would flash screenshots of movies, video games and sports arenas and ask the end user to pick the correct answer. Would we be violating Copyright Laws by using these pictures / screenshots or would this fall under "Fair Use"? We do not intend on altering them in anyway but would charge a small fee to download the game. Thank you
 
My friend and I are looking to develop a Trivia game for the iPhone. The game would flash screenshots of movies, video games and sports arenas and ask the end user to pick the correct answer. Would we be violating Copyright Laws by using these pictures / screenshots or would this fall under "Fair Use"? We do not intend on altering them in anyway but would charge a small fee to download the game. Thank you
Here is a Fair Use FAQ that should explain much to you.

There is no absolute answer until you get to court although my gut feeling tells me that this may not constitute fair use. You're taking a small part of someone else's product and doing that many times to make money. Let's even assume you might fly under the fair use exception - do you want to risk that the copyright owners might sue you to make you prove that you do have that right? My guess is that if they see such an app, they will probably demand their cut. It's not about whether you altered their work. It's about you making money off of their work and not paying them their cut.
 
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