Using an artists Music

[aussieoak]

Is it illegal to put a portion of a song from lets say "Korn" on your web page without their permission.

Is it also illegal to use background pictures on your web page that are from other sites that allow you to download their pic's for desktops?

Thank,
Johnny

[liorean]

As for the music, you may put online 30 seconds of a track, or a total of 2 minutes from all tracks together, according to EMI Sweden. I guess that's something RIAA accepts, since they're a RIAA member (or at least their mother company are), and since they accept it, it must go under "fair use". As for the graphics, you may not unless you can make a very convincing argument about it being "fair use" (fair use does not tend to cover public display, such as web pages, as seen in several lawcases...).

Ask the maker. If the resource is freely available for personal use and you aren't using it for gaining a profit they will probably say yes.

[mindlessLemming]

aussieoak: I'm guessing from your name you might be in Australia?
If so, the Australian Copyright Act of 1968 states that you may use a portion of the audio as long as it is not deemed to be a "substantial amount, or obvious origin".
This is a total crock o' $h*7. The only way to determine "substantial" is on a case by case basis where the result is reached in court.

Bloody stupid.