copyright
When can you use images from arxiv papers for commercial purposes?
<p>I was reading <a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/1412.6572" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://arxiv.org/abs/1412.6572</a> and noticed that the key image involving pandas is reproduced all over the Internet. I would like also to use the image in a commercial talk I am to give.  I searched online and the suggestion is to read the individual license. In this case <a href="https://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/license.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">https://arxiv.org/licenses/nonexclusive-distrib/1.0/license.html</a> says only:</p>

<ul>
<li>I grant arXiv.org a perpetual, non-exclusive license to distribute this article.</li>
<li>I certify that I have the right to grant this license.</li>
<li>I understand that submissions cannot be completely removed once accepted.</li>
<li>I understand that arXiv.org reserves the right to reclassify or reject any submission.</li>
</ul>

<p>What is the situation with using an image from a paper licensed in this way in a commercial setting (with suitable attribution)?</p>

<p>(I have emailed one of the authors to ask them directly but they have left their previous employer.)</p>

<p>Let me give some nuance, if not a definitive answer, since I'm not a lawyer. </p>

<p>First, ArXiv holds only a license, not the underlying copyright. You need to contact the copyright holder to get permission (and a license). That may be the authors themselves, or a journal if they have assigned the copyright to it.</p>

<p>However, it might be more complicated, especially for commercial use. Since the authors of papers frequently use images created by others, sometimes correctly and sometimes not, you should explore a bit more. Perhaps the paper itself will have a citation of the figure and an indication of its source, and hence of its copyright holder. In that case, the authors may not be able to help you, since, at best, they probably also hold just a license. </p>

<p>However, for some <em>academic</em> purposes and in some jurisdictions an academic work can be permitted to use a figure (or other things) without regard to copyright. This is called <em>fair use</em> and it varies around the world. But a commercial work won't be able (probably) to depend on the same exception to copyright law and you still have to find the copyright holder. </p>

<p>Moreover, even if the authors have a proper license (explicitly), that license (a) may not be transferrable and (b) might be for non-commercial use only. </p>

<p>Academic copyright holders often (not universally) issue their work under a fairly permissive license but that is restricted to non-commercial use. Since they hold the copyright they can also issue additional licenses against it if they like, but need to do so explicitly. </p>

<p>Ultimately, to use the work of others you have to deal with the copyright question. It is further complicated by the fact that a figure may be considered under the law as a "complete work" even if it appears within another work. So, replicating it is less likely to fall under fair use rules - though they vary. </p>

<hr>

<p>And, there is one other question you should ask yourself. Is your talk really a commercial use? If you are an academic, it may be a subtle question, or not. </p>
