Yann Forget wrote:

What about this image (screenshot of MS Windows by a Wikipedian)?

http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Windows

And about this one?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Winxp_rc1_rev_02.gif

Those are both perfectly acceptable both from the point of view of "fair use" in the U.S., and also because they are both within the very liberal and open-ended permission given by Microsoft for such things: http://www.microsoft.com/permission/copyrgt/cop-img.htm#ScreenShot

When you're reading that, remember that companies often give permission to do things that you can already do anyway, while purporting to place some restrictions on you.

For example, Microsoft _gives permission_ to use screenshots, but says that you may not alter them in any way. That only applies within the context of their permission. But in U.S. law, parody is a very strongly protected form of expression, and so even though someone who alters a screenshot to make fun of Microsoft is doing so outside the scope of the permissions, they are well within the bounds of fair use.

The same would be true for an article about Microsoft which is "disparaging". Even though Microsoft's liberal permission policy appears to forbid such use, all that means is that if you disparage them then you don't have their permission. But you wouldn't normally need their permission anyway, so long as you're within the realm of fair use critical commentary.

In our case, of course, we don't disparage anyone, and so we fit well within their permission policy.

--Jimbo