[Copyright] Using photos on your blog

[ravid32]

Hello everyone, I like to know more about copyrights. I am a member of fotolia and I use their image for my blog but sometimes fotolia does not have what I'm looking for.

For instance if I want to a picture of Obama for my blog where can I get that from? Can I just find it on google image or is that against the copyright law. If I found a picture of Obama on a website , is it ok to just give credit to the website?

 

[muchacho]

I run a multi-author blog and it's a pain in the backside with regards to which images you can use.

We currently only use images that don't look they were taken by happy snapping Paparazzi, as these are often sold to newspapers / websites for money and then copyrighted. We also stay away from any photo with the copyright logo on it - as if they've taken the time to watermark them with this, then they're probably funny with people using them.

I know one guy who owns a very popular blog (30k unique visits a day) and he's been fined several hundred for using a copyrighted photo.

But it would be great if other people can give their views on this.

 

[Kruczy]

Check on Flickr for photos with Creative Commons license

 

[latituderesorts]

If your blog is on Wordpress install the zemanta plugin, it pulls images from a few sources and credits the source so should be ok...

 

[muchacho]

If your blog is on Wordpress install the zemanta plugin, it pulls images from a few sources and credits the source so should be ok...

After looking at the plugin description, the potential problem that I see is that it looks at Getty images - and these are copyrighted. These are the guys that fined a colleague of mine several hundred pounds for using one of their images, even though the images was credited to them underneath.

 

[zoyaraymonds]

I think giving a source link beneath the photo can save you from the copyright issue.

 

[muchacho]

It does look like it could be a God send, especially for multi-author blogs.

The images will be there for them at a mouse click and takes the worry out of cease and desist letters coming through the post... I hope! I really don't minding linking back to sources as the content my writers create is always unique so never a problem with regards to copied text.

 

[ugjunk]

I think as long as you are giving credits to that particular website you shouldn't have any problem. You can always contact the image owner as well.

 

[agente808]

Crediting a photo DOES NOT save you from the copyright issue.

There are places to get photos that are ok to use.

As Cruczy suggested, Creative Commons from Flickr is good
other good sources:

sxc.hu
wikipedia.com (most of their photos are licenced with CC)
everystockphoto.com (check the settings when you search)
Almost all .gov websites have CC licenced photos for public use.

IF you are using a photo of a well known person in a "newsy" context, you can use a photo of that person from their official website (THAT falls under the fair use laws).

So, in your example looking for Obama, photos you could use are:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Official_portrait_of_Barack_Obama.jpg
http://change.gov/newsroom/entry/new_official_portrait_released/
http://www.whitehouse.gov/photos-and-video/photogallery/july-2012-photo-day
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/527333495/
Search from everystock photo:

http://www.everystockphoto.com/sear...W=&sMinH=&sDispRes=on&sDispLic=on&sDispSrc=on

There's just too much available for free, to be worth the risk of using something with a chance of getting sued.

 

[muchacho]

I've installed Zemanta on Firefox and it looks pretty nifty.

When you hover your mouse over the image it will say things such as, "Non-free, could qualify as fair use", "Low resolution use allowed when backlinking", "CC Atribution ShareAlike 3.0 license" etc.

So it seems to tell you which ones are ok to use, which seems sweet!

As far as I'm aware, the difference between commercial and non-commercial use is this: If you're using the image as part of a advertisement to try and sell a product, it's commercial. If it's for something such as a news article about a story of that person - it's non-commercial.

But Zemanta, seems to tell you if you're ok to use it, or are probably ok to use it.

 

[jstorm]

If you want to use a pic of the chief thief, BHO, he's a public figure and as such, up for grabs; however, if a newspaper or some such entity took the picture then you could get a nasty little copyright infringement letter. So it's more about who took the pic in a case like that.

 

[agente808]

Zemanta, which I have used before, is indeed a nifty little tool - BUT...
it installs a backlink to itself form every page you use it on, and if you erase the backlink, but then make some changes and resave, it reinserts the backlink.

Eventually, it was more work than help and I deleted it.

 

[muchacho]

If you want to use a pic of the chief thief, BHO, he's a public figure and as such, up for grabs; however, if a newspaper or some such entity took the picture then you could get a nasty little copyright infringement letter. So it's more about who took the pic in a case like that.

That's why Zemanta looks great as it tells you the source and the rules of displaying it, before you publish it, so there's no using images from newspapers. Flickr and Wikipedia are 2 of quite a few sources and they seem to be non-commercial / free use policies.

 

[muchacho]

Zemanta, which I have used before, is indeed a nifty little tool - BUT...
it installs a backlink to itself form every page you use it on, and if you erase the backlink, but then make some changes and resave, it reinserts the backlink.

Eventually, it was more work than help and I deleted it.

With regards to Zemanta inserting a link, there appears to be an option in the settings where the 'signature image' can be invisible.

The images seem to be hot-linked. Would be much better if they could be saved on your own server because the hotlink source could always be deleted.

 

[ysku99]

In my view you can put a courtesy note under the image and there will be no problem

 

[muchacho]

Recently found a plugin that makes any image hot-linked, converted to saved to your server and the img location is changed. Seems to do the trick!

It's called 'Add Linked Images To Gallery'

 

[dogmann11]

Might look at Wylio too, does the same with pictures as Zemanta.

 

[muchacho]

Might look at Wylio too, does the same with pictures as Zemanta.

That's limited though to only 5 pictures a month unless you pay.

Where as Zemanta don't seem to have a limit that bad. I think they do have a Premium version, which is a bigger choice of pictures.

 

[agente808]

With regards to Zemanta inserting a link, there appears to be an option in the settings where the 'signature image' can be invisible

An invisible backlink to Zemanta isn't really much better than a visible link. IMHO

 

[muchacho]

An invisible backlink to Zemanta isn't really much better than a visible link. IMHO

I think by way of invisible link it's like with Statcounter - it means no link back to them. I've checked the source code after inserting an image and saving and can't see anything in the source code suggesting a link back to them with Invisible selected.