Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp.
Okay kiddo, let me explain the Bridgeman Art Library v. Corel Corp. case to you like you're 5.
So, imagine you really like drawing pictures of your favorite cartoon characters, like Mickey Mouse, Spongebob, or Elsa from Frozen. You draw them and show them to your friends, they all love it and take pictures of your drawings to show others.
Now, imagine if someone took your drawings without asking you first and put them on a T-shirt to sell without giving you any credit or money. That wouldn't be fair, would it?
That's kind of what happened in this case, but instead of cartoon characters, it's artworks that artists made a long time ago that are now in museums or art collections. The Bridgeman Art Library has a lot of pictures of these artworks, which they took photos of and put online for people to buy or license to use in their projects.
But Corel Corp. took some of those photos without asking the Bridgeman Art Library, and they put them in their own software for people to use without giving any credit or money to the Bridgeman Art Library. The Bridgeman Art Library sued Corel Corp. because they thought it wasn't fair that Corel was making money off their pictures without asking.
When the case went to court, the judge decided that the photos taken by the Bridgeman Art Library weren't original enough to be copyrighted because they were simply replicating artworks that are already in the public domain, meaning anyone can look at them, take photos of them or draw them themselves. So, the judge ruled that Corel Corp. could use those photos without needing to pay the Bridgeman Art Library.
In short, it's like if someone copied your drawings of cartoon characters and used them without asking you, but the judge said they could do that because your drawings weren't original enough to be protected by copyright laws. It might not seem fair, but that's what the judge decided.
So, imagine you really like drawing pictures of your favorite cartoon characters, like Mickey Mouse, Spongebob, or Elsa from Frozen. You draw them and show them to your friends, they all love it and take pictures of your drawings to show others.
Now, imagine if someone took your drawings without asking you first and put them on a T-shirt to sell without giving you any credit or money. That wouldn't be fair, would it?
That's kind of what happened in this case, but instead of cartoon characters, it's artworks that artists made a long time ago that are now in museums or art collections. The Bridgeman Art Library has a lot of pictures of these artworks, which they took photos of and put online for people to buy or license to use in their projects.
But Corel Corp. took some of those photos without asking the Bridgeman Art Library, and they put them in their own software for people to use without giving any credit or money to the Bridgeman Art Library. The Bridgeman Art Library sued Corel Corp. because they thought it wasn't fair that Corel was making money off their pictures without asking.
When the case went to court, the judge decided that the photos taken by the Bridgeman Art Library weren't original enough to be copyrighted because they were simply replicating artworks that are already in the public domain, meaning anyone can look at them, take photos of them or draw them themselves. So, the judge ruled that Corel Corp. could use those photos without needing to pay the Bridgeman Art Library.
In short, it's like if someone copied your drawings of cartoon characters and used them without asking you, but the judge said they could do that because your drawings weren't original enough to be protected by copyright laws. It might not seem fair, but that's what the judge decided.