I missed the original post on this. However, I agree with Jessica that the studios should be avoided--and many smart publishers won't let authors go near them in the first place. Most authors and publishers, in the US anyway, have found a pretty simple solution--the Museum of Modern Art Film Stills Archive. For a reasonable fee and the cost of a trip to New York, one can usually find all the stills needed for a book. Since these come from MOMA with rights granted--and are often the stills put out by the studios themselves--they are covered under fair use. A mention in the book that the stills come "courtesy of MOMA Film Stills Archive" takes care of you legally. I have known of cases where publishers foolishly contacted studios who charged extortionist prices, or made unreasonable demands (such as requiring the users to contact every actor--or his/her estate--shown in the photos!), or sold rights that covered only the US, or all three! And all this for stills that were originally made for promotional purposes! Of course, I suppose it could happen that copyright holders could withhold the stills from MOMA, just as they can withdraw the films themselves. In that case, the user would be out of luck. But this doesn't happen often. My publisher insisted that I deal with MOMA for stills, and no one else. But as Jessica suggests, if you're looking for stills from very recent films, your friendly campus newspaper may have press kits containing promotional production stills, which the studios give out for publication. As long as you credit the issuing studio, you're clear. Dennis Bingham Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis On Tue, 16 Sep 1997, Kino International Corporation wrote: > The use of stills can be tricky. I have been told that if you ask a > studio for permission, it is VERY EXSPENSIVE. The question is, do you need > their permission ? Most people avoid the problem by useing publicity stills > which the studio/ distrubutor put out themselves and should not require > clearence. If you want a specific image, it may well fall under fair use. I > have never heard of anyone being sued over this,but I am told many > publishers are leery . However I would avoid talking to any studio legal > dept. at all costs. > > Good Luck > > Jessica Rosner > Kino > > Kino International Corporation > 333 W. 39th St. Suite 503 > New York, NY 10018 > (212)629-6880 > fax: (212)714-0871 > > ---- > To sign off SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L > in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask] > ---- To sign off SCREEN-L, e-mail [log in to unmask] and put SIGNOFF SCREEN-L in the message. Problems? Contact [log in to unmask]