Copyright lawyers! The controversial anti-Quran documentary of Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders was published without amendments despite copious outrage in the Muslim world, but copyright lawyers make the impossible happen: images of the infamous Allah cartoon will have to be edited out.

This documentary raises all sorts of questions, but in the context of this blog, it raises a particular one. This is a documentary, would it not fall under fair use to show a cartoon directly linked to the topic at hand?

Well, this is European law, of course. And although it is a bit fair use, it isn't just about copyright. The guy who drew that cartoon doesn't want to be connected to Wilders in any way. He's just a cartoonist who makes funny cartoons about topics that are hot news. But he was never asked about the use of this drawing or even warned that this drawing would be used. And although fair use would give Wilders the right to use it in a documentary, the problem is that Wilders would have known that the use of this image would cause much more negative publicity for this Danish cartoonist, possibly endangering the cartoonist even more. This wasn't just about fair use, but also about public safety.

Besides, the cartoonist has made it clear in the past that he doesn't want his cartoon to be used for any kind of anti-Islam propaganda, like the movie made by Wilders. He just makes news-related cartoons without any political motive.