I wonder about skewed aspect ratios on self-pub or indie small press covers. I have read posted arguments that if you alter an image from a stock photo agency by XX% that is “transformative” enough to qualify as “fair use” under copyright law.* So I wonder if people are skewing aspect by XX% or more thinking that allows unpaid use of stock photos? When I see skewed aspect on a lousy book cover I think stolen art.
*(As we used material when I was contributing to an amateur literary newsletter, “fair use” was for comment, review, criticism, parody or satire. Cover art was in-house. “Transforming” a piece of outside art was for parody or satire only. With cite of the source in all cases.)
Maybe I’m cynical, but I can’t imagine this scenario. I have run into far too many people who have squashed images to fit something for one purpose or another and seem to see nothing at all wrong with it. In short, I doubt anyone is even thinking about it enough to be trying to avoid copyright issues.
But I suppose stranger things have happened, so what do I know.
Personally I doubt the person that made this cover with the bad aspect ratio would even know about a XX% change effecting copyright laws. That would require at least a little bit of common sense.
Still, and interesting theory for the very almost there covers that just have a bad aspect ratio.
![cover[1]](https://lousybookcovers.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/cover14.jpg)
The vamp on the left would have made a nice simple cover – with a decent font and correct placement for the title & author name, of course…
… and fixing her aspect ratio.
“… and fixing her aspect ratio.”
I wonder about skewed aspect ratios on self-pub or indie small press covers. I have read posted arguments that if you alter an image from a stock photo agency by XX% that is “transformative” enough to qualify as “fair use” under copyright law.* So I wonder if people are skewing aspect by XX% or more thinking that allows unpaid use of stock photos? When I see skewed aspect on a lousy book cover I think stolen art.
*(As we used material when I was contributing to an amateur literary newsletter, “fair use” was for comment, review, criticism, parody or satire. Cover art was in-house. “Transforming” a piece of outside art was for parody or satire only. With cite of the source in all cases.)
Maybe I’m cynical, but I can’t imagine this scenario. I have run into far too many people who have squashed images to fit something for one purpose or another and seem to see nothing at all wrong with it. In short, I doubt anyone is even thinking about it enough to be trying to avoid copyright issues.
But I suppose stranger things have happened, so what do I know.
Personally I doubt the person that made this cover with the bad aspect ratio would even know about a XX% change effecting copyright laws. That would require at least a little bit of common sense.
Still, and interesting theory for the very almost there covers that just have a bad aspect ratio.
It is a suspicion I have, especially when I see covers like “Tim the Superhero Detective Part I”. https://lousybookcovers.com/?p=69901
It looks horrorible, and not in a nice gothic horror horrible way but in a bad in any genre bad way. I see no excuse for it. It’s my pet peeve.