Clip art?

Cheiromancer

Adventurer
Does anyone know if clip-art (from Microsoft Word) can be used in a commercial PDF product? The way I read it, Microsoft doesn't claim to have copyright over the stuff, and thus can't give permission to use it. If you did use it, you would run the risk that someone would say "Hey! That's my picture you're using there." In which case something would have to be worked out with them in regards to royalties, or amending the PDF so as to remove the disputed artwork.

IANAL, and I don't know if I've interpreted the documents on the microsoft site correctly. This is what I found:

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If you are a licensed user of a Microsoft product containing ClipArt Gallery (CAG) Version 3.0 (or greater), please visit the DesignGalleryLive web site for additional rights under an Addendum to your Microsoft product End User License Agreement (EULA).
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The relevant portion of the license found at the DesignGalleryLive web site was this:

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All title and intellectual property rights in and to the content that is not contained in the Software, but may be accessed through use of the Software, is the property of the respective content owners and may be protected by applicable copyright or other intellectual property laws and treaties. This EULA grants You no rights to use such content.
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And this:

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By Posting a Submission you warrant and represent that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to your Submission as described in these Terms of Use including, without limitation, all the rights necessary for you to provide, post, upload, input or submit the Submissions.

In addition to the warranty and representation set forth above, by Posting a Submission that contain images, photographs, pictures or that are otherwise graphical in whole or in part ("Images"), you warrant and represent that (a) you are the copyright owner of such Images, or that the copyright owner of such Images has granted you permission to use such Images or any content and/or images contained in such Images consistent with the manner and purpose of your use and as otherwise permitted by these Terms of Use and the Services, (b) you have the rights necessary to grant the licenses and sublicenses described in these Terms of Use, and (c) that each person depicted in such Images, if any, has provided consent to the use of the Images as set forth in these Terms of Use, including, by way of example, and not as a limitation, the distribution, public display and reproduction of such Images. By Posting Images, you are granting (a) to all members of your private community (for each such Images available to members of such private community), and/or (b) to the general public (for each such Images available anywhere on the Services, other than a private community), permission to use your Images in connection with the use, as permitted by these Terms of Use, of any of the Services, (including, by way of example, and not as a limitation, making prints and gift items which include such Images), and including, without limitation, a non-exclusive, world-wide, royalty-free license to: copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, edit, translate and reformat your Images without having your name attached to such Images, and the right to sublicense such rights to any supplier of the Services. The licenses granted in the preceding sentences for a Images will terminate at the time you completely remove such Images from the Services, provided that, such termination shall not affect any licenses granted in connection with such Images prior to the time you completely remove such Images. No compensation will be paid with respect to the use of your Images.
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In short, if I submitted an image anyone could use it and I would get no royalties. The document seems rather coy about stating the converse; that since the material on the web site was submitted by people under this license, I can use it without paying any royalties. In fact, it specifically states that it won't grant such a right to the use of content.

Anyone have any experience with this issue?
 

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