File:The House of Atreus Act I.jpg

This is the cover art for the album The House of Atreus Act I by the artist Virgin Steele. The cover art copyright is believed to belong to the label, T&T / Noise, or the graphic artist(s).

Derived from a digital capture (scan/photo) of the album/CD cover (creator of this digital version is irrelevant as the copyright in all equivalent images is still held by the same party). Copyright held by the record company or the artist. Claimed as fair use regardless.

The House of Atreus Act I

The entire cover: because the image is cover art, a form of product packaging, the entire image is needed to identify the product, properly convey the meaning and branding intended, and avoid tarnishing or misrepresenting the image.

The copy is of sufficient resolution for commentary and identification but lower resolution than the original cover. Copies made from it will be of inferior quality, unsuitable as artwork on pirate versions or other uses that would compete with the commercial purpose of the original artwork.

Main infobox. The image is used for identification in the context of critical commentary of the work for which it serves as cover art. It makes a significant contribution to the user's understanding of the article, which could not practically be conveyed by words alone. The image is placed in the infobox at the top of the article discussing the work, to show the primary visual image associated with the work, and to help the user quickly identify the work and know they have found what they are looking for. Use for this purpose does not compete with the purposes of the original artwork, namely the artist's providing graphic design services to music concerns and in turn marketing music to the public.

As musical cover art, the image is not replaceable by free content; any other image that shows the packaging of the music would also be copyrighted, and any version that is not true to the original would be inadequate for identification or commentary.

Though this image is subject to copyright, its use is covered by the U.S. fair use laws because:

1. It's a low resolution copy of a CD/album cover.
2. It doesn't limit the copyright owner's rights to sell the CD/album in any way, in fact, it may encourage sales.
3. Because of the low resolution, copies could not be used to make illegal copies of the album artwork on another CD.
4. The image is itself a subject of discussion in the article or used in the infobox thereof.
5. The image on the cover is significant because it was made by a famous artist.