... Bob, which is why I said:

>> It is probably a permissible "fair use" to scan a chip which is being
offered for sale, if no other use is made of the scan. <<

Once the chip is sold, then "fair use" would end and the scan would have to be be removed to avoid violating copyright law. HOWEVER, it's the other part of my comment that's significant:

>> Any other use of a scan (such as decorating a commercial website) is almost certainly a copyright violation. <<

If an image of a chip (or casino logo, sign, etc.) is used solely for the purpose of "dressing up" the appearance of a commercial website (that is, the item is not being offered for sale), then it would not be a fair use and would be a copyright violation. That's why a lot of companies are cracking down on websites which would seem to be favorable to the companies (even, for example, what might be called "fan" sites). Corporate lawyers for big companies spend thousands of hours and hundreds of thousands of dollars protecting their copyright interests in this way (for the simple reason that if they don't, they might lose the copyright). #1 son is house counsel for a division of Mattel; a significant part of his job is to review websites for unauthorized use of their copyright/trademark/service mark items and writing "cease and desist" letters. Some companies will license certain uses (sometimes for nominal fees), which is an alternative means of protecting the copyright interest, but most just say "stop".

----- jim o\-S