Copyright and sharing private study materials

[FiveFanDownunder]

Hello all,

Apologies if discussed before; I searched ‘copyright’ on the forums but didn’t see this exact scenario, at least not recently.

If one was to conjure up some personal study / reference materials featuring screen shots of Blyton TV adaptations and maybe the name and signature of Enid Blyton on the cover for identification, can anyone see any copyright problems? The materials would not be for sale, but if others like the look of them and would like a copy for their own study / reference, what then?

I have dropped Hodder/Hachette a line, but not really sure who to ask about using screen shots from the 70s FF. I realise the entire body of work is all over YouTube, and I own my own DVD copy, but want to respect the rules.

Just not 100% sure what the rules are!

As always, thanks.

[Pet]

I wonder whether Hodder/Hachette cared enough about the issue to send you a reply.

[db105]

The copyright laws are complicated, change from country to country and I'm not a lawyer, but if the screen captures used are reasonable and limited to criticism and / or review purposes, that looks like fair use. I doubt the copyright owner is going to care anyway, since it's not for a commercial purpose.