In the introductory chapter of my thesis, I've been surveying the previous work in my field. As part of this, I've used images from some of those publications and included them as Figures in my own thesis.
Occasionally, I have slightly edited them - for instance, changing the labelling.
I usually only use one image from each paper.
My understanding is that this falls under academic fair use, and I do not need permission from any of the publishers to re-use these images in my thesis.
Am I correct?
Update:
It is fairly easy to get permission using RightsLink with most publishers. Just fill out the form on the website and you get the licence immediately.
Bill Barth's comment is extremely important - fair use is a defence rather than a prophylactic and I for one don't want to be in a position of having to defend my use of Figures in a court of law.
Of course, it is extremely unlikely that any publisher would do such a thing, but my feeling is it's better to be safe than sorry.
Answer
You probably have a fair use right in the US to use images from copyright-protected works without permission from the copyright holder since you are using them for a critical purpose. But, -BUT-, fair use is a defense to a copyright infringement lawsuit that is not guaranteed to be successful. If you are sued by one of the copyright holders, you will have to assert this defense to them and probably also to a judge or jury in a court of law. This may cost you (or your institution if they choose to defend you) a large sum of money to take to court. $100k would not be unheard of. Given that, unless you have this kind of money just sitting around, you would be well served by asking the copyright holders (not necessarily the article authors, more likely the article publishers) for permission to use the images. It is usually granted.
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