Emily, The first question I would ask is, Where and how are you planning to publish or distribute your research? If you were using these screen shots in a doctoral dissertation, that's one kind of use -- and one that I would say is more likely covered under educational fair use. If you are planning to use these screen shots in a commercial textbook eventually, that's another kind of use -- less likely to be viewed as fair use. Most journal publishers I know would be reluctant to print screenshots without copyright clearance, or without an indemnity clause in the author agreement. The fact that you have written the company to request permission both helps you and hurts you: Helps you in the respect that it shows a good faith effort to secure permission; hurts you in the respect that it presumes the need to request permission. Best, Jim Porter Hi, Emily and all, Could Emily make a fair-use argument? Something along the lines of--this information is publicly available, and for research purposes, it should be permissible for her to include the screenshots with proper attribution--I'm not a lawyer or a legal scholar, but perhaps some that are on this list might be able to comment? Peter On Mon, Jul 9, 2012 at 10:45 PM, Emily Liu <b941020045@gmail.com<mailto:b941020045@gmail.com>> wrote: Dear All, While doing my research on the online forum-based interactive gaming site ( www.gaiaonline.com), I have encountered another problem. The site's Terms of Service mention that "The visual interfaces, graphics, design, compilation, information, computer code, products, software, services, and all other elements of Gaia Online provided by Gaia, including without limitation any artwork, Gaia virtual items, Gaia Gold, Member Submissions, Gaia Member Online Accounts or User IDs, or visual art and any combination thereof (all of the foregoing, collectively, the "Materials") are protected by copyright, trade dress, patent, and trademark laws, international conventions, and all other relevant intellectual property and proprietary rights, and applicable laws. Except as expressly authorized by Gaia, you agree not to buy, sell, license, distribute, copy, modify, publicly perform or display, transmit, publish, edit, adapt, create derivative works from, or otherwise make any unauthorized or commercial use of the Materials. You agree to abide by all copyright notices, information and restrictions contained in any Materials." Yet I need to include screenshots of the forum and user avatars in my thesis to illustrate my research site and let others understand how forum-based role playing is conducted. I have tried to get authorization to use the site's images by writing to their usertalk email, public relations email, and the site moderator, but received no replies. In this case, can I still include screen capture images in my paper? How should I deal with the issue of copyright or authorization? Thank you Emily -- Min-Ju Liu (Emily) M.A. Student in Applied Linguistics Department of Foreign Languages and Literature National Sun Yat-sen University _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org<mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org> mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/ -- Peter Joseph Gloviczki, Ph.D. http://petergloviczki.com _______________________________________________ The Air-L@listserv.aoir.org<mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org> mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/ ------------------------------------ James E. Porter Professor, Department of English and Armstrong Institute for Interactive Media Studies Department of English Bachelor Hall 356A Miami University Oxford, OH 45056 email: porterje@muohio.edu twitter: http://twitter.com/reachjim web: http://www.units.muohio.edu/english/People/Faculty/I_P/PorterJames.html ------------------------------------