I feel like it would be worth it without the images The real content is discovering obscure metal bands, and reading cool facts about them. Hell, one of the greatest ever metal bands is completely unknown in America (Angeles del Infierno). But it'd look blame without pictures. And I'm not taking like art or anything super creative. Hell, even fan pics from concerts, just to show who I'm referring to.
Eh...even if you don't feel that photographs are art, or feel that photography can be creative, photographs nevertheless are covered by copyright. You might want to hire an artist to look into some sort of graphical/artistic element for the book.
The closest thing I can think of to something being so significant that copyright was, in one case, overruled is the Zapruder film of the assassination of JFK. According to Wikipedia: emphasis mine. So a historian writing a book on the assassination of a president made charcoal drawings of copyrighted photographs, got sued, and successfully defended their use. Photos of musicians probably wouldn't meet the same standard of significance. You could use fan photos, but remember, Otto the bus driver has just as much right to the snapshots he took with a disposable camera as Herb Ritts or Anne Geddes. He'll probably grant or sell you the right to use them for somewhat less, but just because someone isn't a professional doesn't make their work fair game, and the artists or venues might have some rights that I'm not aware of. Tread very carefully.
Hard to “unknowingly” use a copyrighted pic, since copyright attaches by operation of law. At least, in the US and EU. If you see an image, it probably has a copyright attached at the moment of creation.
Unless it was taken by a monkey, of course . Actually, that case triggered some serious legal wrangling and rulings.
Have you tried finding pictures on Creative Commons? https://search.creativecommons.org/ In less than a minute, I found a photo of the Grateful Dead that free to use if you attribute the photographer and share your work under the appropriate CC license : https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Grateful_Dead_at_the_Warfield-01.jpg And here's a Grateful Dead photo that is in the public domain: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grateful_Dead#/media/File:Grateful_Dead_(1970).png
unfortunately, I'm looking at obscure bands. The kind of bands where there are only one or two pictures in existence
If it's such a big deal take a camera and photo the old and obscure grizzlies. I'm sure they'd appreciate the attention and might give you some snaps from the old days for your book. If they're dead, photo a house, a tombstone, a bar, a sister who might have some pictures.
That suggestion is not actually insane... How much do we have to pay to get the real @matwoolf back? Asking for a friend...
I actually like this idea. A lot. I've never left the country, and I'm always looking for adventure. Might be a reason to travel.
Damn. First they kidnapped Tenderiser's avatar. Then they came for ChickenFreak's avatar. Then they got Homer. And now they've got our beloved Wolfy????? Damn. This is getting expensive, y'all... ---------- Anyway, back to the OP, yes, and set up interviews with people. Legwork is the only way to do justice to a book like that.
I have done considerable research on copyright (and no one likes my research) it is possible to some degree to use a copyrighted photo but not in whole or alone. For example, if the copyrighted work takes up 30% or less of your total graphic, your graphic can be considered a collage. But I wouldn't count on it and judges tend to make the law up as they go along. It's safest to use a public domain photos. In my avatar for example. There is a naked lady sitting on a shiny ball with blue footed boobies in her lap. The naked lady picture is about a hundred years old, the boobies are public domain and I took the shiny ball picture. Get a little creative....
