Question about copyright

Hello everyone,
I have a question involving copyright. I'm not really knowledge in this area, so I'm kind of on alert when it comes to stuff like this.

So I'm making a game and I want to use some visuals, specifically an album cover. Let's say the cover from Judas Priest Sad Wings of Destiny album. I know that I'm unable to use the music, at least until it becomes public domain, which is not anytime soon I think, but what about the cover? Is it also copyrighted or is it free to use?

 

Yes, it is copyrighted, and no you can't use it without permission.

 

Ah okay figured. Thanks!

 

There's a concept called "fair use" in American copyright law which allows the use of copyrighted content in certain circumstances. Making a parody for example. It is something referred to as an "affirmative defense" though, so you can still rightfully be sued for it, and "fair use" only comes into play at trial when you make your arguments before the judge (something many YouTubers don't seem to understand about fair use), but you're likely to win the case if your use is within past court precedent.

I Am Not A Lawyer

 

Sometimes (not this time) a band will use a public-domain image as their cover art. Generally, look-up the credit for album cover. If I understand correctly (I'm not a lawyer either) if the picture was created any time on or before 1923 then it is considered public domain in the U.S.A. You still couldn't use the actual album cover, though, because the cover would be a derivative work that incorporates public domain artwork but is not public domain itself. In that case, you could use the original public-domain artwork, though. Once again, I'm not a lawyer. This is simply a layman's interpretation.

According to wikipedia, the cover in question was commissioned specifically for the Album- so it's definitely copyright protected and probably could be considered a trademark too.

Edit: I should mention that my over all strategy is to just assume that you can't use anything that you didn't make yourself unless it comes with a license agreement like the Unity Asset store. Even then, you have to be careful because it's possible for someone to misrepresent themselves as the clear-and-free copyright holder, when sometimes they are actually not.