Notice I don’t have a photo with this post?
Well, it’s because last week, I read this post by writer Roni Loren, warning bloggers can be sued for using photos on their blog that aren’t their own. Does that sound far-fetched? It isn’t. The very reason Roni blogged about it was because it happened to her. Like many of us, she found an image on the web, used it with her post, and went on her merry way.
Until the copyright owner of the photo approached her, demanding a sum of money for her use of the photo. Enter lawyers, money, and a very nasty situation — all because of one photo.
Like Roni, I assumed I was okay using web images under Fair Use. But as she points out in her post, even if you attribute the photo, link to the source, and post a disclaimer (among other things), you are not protected unless you have got ‘express PERMISSION from the copyright holder OR are using pics that are public domain, creative commons, etc’ (quote from Roni).
Yikes!
There are ways you can legally use photos, though. On Flickr, a whole category of photos are available for use through Creative Commons, as long as you attribute them to the copyright holder. And author Kristin Lamb has started a group where writers can submit their own photos for free use.
You can stick your head in the sand and think ‘it’ll never happen to me’. But wouldn’t you rather be safe than sorry?
Have you used photos on your blog without being aware of the consequences? How do you work around the copyright challenge?
Great post, Talli!
I purchase the rights to use all my photos from iStock and find them there for a reasonable price and with a great selection.
http://www.istockphoto.com/
Tip: I always buy the smallest size because those are cheaper (around $1.00 per image) and look great in the blog format.
That said, all the Bitchy Signs I post, I make sure to attribute the source and the link to it, if possible. So far, peeps have thanked me for using them and referring to them. But, of course, if I were to receive a cease and desist letter, I’d take down whatever I was asked to remove.
Thanks, DD! Shutterstock.com is also quite good for photos. Definitely better to be safe than sorry!
All the images I use for my covers, my designer buys so they are OK. Any I use on my blog is usually what I have taken myself. Or are in the public doman, eg an image of a school from their website.
Hi Julie! Make sure the photos aren’t copyright, even if they are in the public domain (on a website or something similar).
I came upon Roni’s post a few days ago. I was aware of copyright issues, but the grey line for me was regarding celebrity photos. I find them on many websites and blogs. It’s almost as if they’re fair game. And I’m still not sure about those. However, the few I had with my blog are now gone. I think I need to remove just one more, and then that leaves all images on my blog mine since I took the images.
It was toughest taking down the John Wayne images that went with a post about heroes. I mean, the images are 40 to 60 years old. The photographers are probably dead. I realise their estate may be able to sue, but still…
The part I don’t understand–and Roni said ‘more about this below’ but I never found more below–was Roni’s statement about public domain pictures. If it’s pubic domain, it’s free to use. The only exception I can see to this is if the painting done 200 years ago was willed down through the generations and the estate now handles it.
Look at the Mona Lisa. It’s everywhere in various forms.
I’m still unclear as to the boundaries of public domain use, too. The only thing I’d feel completely comfortable using now is those photos owners have specified can be used under Creative Commons. It’s still a bit blurry to me, and I have a lot of work to do on my own blog now tidying up photos etc!
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page is also a great source for public domain images, whether they be works of the federal government or placed there by the originator. Do read the terms of use for each image, though, as they do vary. Still, it’s a place to start to find base images for manipulation.
Oh, thanks for that link, Dale! Very helpful.
Thanks for the reminder, Talli. I’ll be much more careful about getting permission before using images. (I may have crossed the line a time or two in a rush to get a blog post up and out there)
I appreciate the suggestions on istockphoto and shutterstock. Will check them out!
My pleasure, Lauren. I think it’s quite easy to cross the line when you’re in a rush.
Very scary! Thanks so much for sharing this, Talli. Well, blogs are certainly going to be a lot more boring now, aren’t they?
It is scary, isn’t it? Sigh – I know on the blogs being more boring. It’ll take a little bit more effort to find relevant photos.
Another place I get my photos is Dreamstime. They do have some free ones under the Royalty Free license, but you have to read and agree and I always give credit to the author with a link to their page as they show on the website.
Thank you for the info, Carol Ann. It’s great that we can share info and resources on where to get royalty-free photos.
I’m so bummed about this. I have over a hundred blog posts that I need to go back through and remove photos I’ve gotten from Google Images. I never choose the pics that have copyright watermarks imbedded in them. I’m sure some of what I’ve used are fine, but who knows which ones and who has time to research that? To go back and replace them all with other images that I know are public domain would be costly and time consuming. I’m all for photographers and artists getting credit for their work, but if they don’t want people to use their photographs, they shouldn’t have them on sites like Google images for people to find and use. Or there should be some way to keep copyrighted images from being downloaded. Maybe it should be a common practice that all copyrighted images have a watermark, so people know they are off limits.
It is *such* a bummer. I’m just going to delete them from the old posts, I think. Honestly, it’s too much work otherwise when I could be writing! I agree there should be an easier system to keep track of it all.
People say exactly the same thing about ebook filesharing. How dare those authors actual want paying for their books. In any case you don’t put photographs on google images. Google images crawls the web and pulls photographs off websites. It usually has a link to the website it pulled the image from.
Yikes! I’m new to blogging and just uploaded a photo of Kim Kardashian that I found on Google images. I had no idea that this could be a problem, so thanks for this very helpful post.
You’re welcome, Riley!
I have to admit, I’m surprised that people would think that an image being on the internet makes it less likely that it is under copyright protection. The same is true of prose, though, so I guess I should have expected it. For the authors commenting: what seem to be the difference between taking a photograph from someone’s site without permission and taking a comment/blog post/story/book?
In the United States, copyright is currently automatic. It isn’t necessary to register a copyright any more, although it is useful if you are trying to get civil damages
In terms of Fair Use, there are four primary principles, as outlined in this Copyright Office document:
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
* The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes
* The nature of the copyrighted work
* The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole
* The effect of the use upon the potential market for, or value of, the copyrighted work
All four of these elements must be satisfied. It’s okay for me to reproduce them, by the way, because it is part of a government document that is reasonably presumed to not be under copyright protection.
Using a picture which is under copyright without permission it almost always going to fail under the third point, since you are using the entire document.
I asked for permission to use the SeaMonkey logo in a recent post, and got it. If I hadn’t, even though I would probably have been okay if I used it, I wouldn’t have used it.
The rule of thumb is pretty simple: if you aren’t sure, don’t use it.
There are plenty of public domain images out there. If something was first published in the USA prior to 1923, it is in the public domain in the USA. Wikipedia does a good job of identifying the copyright status of images they use (they would have severe repercussions if they weren’t careful).
People have the right to put copyrighted images to which they own the rights on their own websites, just as an author can publish a story in a blog. That doesn’t mean that it is automatically in the public domain.
Does it take a bit more effort to find images in the public domain? Yes, it certainly may. I’m sure most people who use images without permission have no ill intent, but for me, it seems worth the effort not to infringe on someone else’s rights. Putting something on the internet is a bit like leaving your car unlocked with the engine running…it makes it more convenient for someone to take it without your permission, but doesn’t make it any more right.
Thank you for such a thorough comment, Bufo, and for outlining the relevant legal issues. I think the confusion sets in particularly with something like Google Images, where photos are ‘floating; and not attached to blogs, websites, etc — and you can’t find attribution.
But you’re right — that doesn’t make it right.
Thanks for the reminder, Talli. I’m slowly working backwards through all my blog posts, to see what might need changing. I’m more worried about Pinterest! Although I worry about nuances, too – what about book covers included as part of a review? What of photos of paintings that are hundreds of years old? And so on…
Deniz, I’m worried about Pinterest, too. So many issues! It does boggle the mind…
Here’s another source for photos: http://www.morguefile.com/archive/
Their homepage states: “Free images for your inspiration, reference and use in your creative work, be it commercial or not!”
Oh, great! Thanks, Sara!
Great info. I read about Roni being sued over using a copyrighted image, and while that sucks, and the owner of that image was being pretty hardcore about it, it serves as a notice that we should all be careful about the images we publish. Those images are someone’s art, just as our stories are ours, and we should respect that.
I’ve been guilty of borrowing images from other blogs, too, but I appreciate the reminder that I may actually be infringing upon another artist’s rights, and will make sure my blog pics are legal.
Cheers!
Greg
Hi Greg! It’s amazing how easily infringement can be done, without even realising it! I need to go back through my blogs, too.
Talli,
Thank you. I’ll be picking back over my photos, also.
I love that Kristin Lamb started a photo site. Never underestimate the creativity of indies.
Do we have that link?
I don’t think the one above is the right one.
Hi Barbara, if you scroll down in that post, Roni gives the link to the site Kristin’s set up. Hopefully that should work.
Using things that don’t belong to you is wrong. Even on the Internet. If you believe you have a case for fair use, and a blogger very well might, check out Stanford’s excellent website on the matter: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/
Keep in mind that some copyright holders will threaten a lawsuit as a form of extortion. You may actually be fine under “fair use”. The short version is: if you’re trying to attract eyeballs to your site using a picture of Angelina Jolie, you’re infringing. If you write a critique of Katniss Everdeen (god forbid you should incur the wrath of Hunger Games fans…) you are probably OK. A good thumbnail to go by is: if your use of someone else’s work will confuse people, thereby reducing the income of the originator, you are doing something wrong.
Peace, Seeley
Great points, Seeley – thank you. However, as Roni learned, fair use can be a tricky thing with what it covers! Thank you for the link.
Seeley, excellent point! Anybody can sue anyone for anything (although a judge could toss the lawsuit). Defending that can be expensive. That’s one of the big reasons why authors may want to consider an umbrella insurance policy, where your insurance company may tender a defense (which is often the really expensive part).
This will open a can of worms, but the idea of “unintentional infringement” is one of the arguments in favor of DRM (Digital Rights Management). I’ve been in some very heated discussions about this, and DRM can really be used to control things besides those rights conferred by copyright. However, if we look at it from the point of view of ignorant (as opposed to intentional) copyright infringement, there are two strategies:
1. Use DRM to prevent people from infringing
2 Use prosecution to go after people after they have already infringed
The first one seems to create the lesser harm…if we narrow the focus to actual rights enforcement.
I never use images because I’ve been afraid of this. As soon as I read Roni’s sad story, I started spreading the word, and I’ll RT this one, too. I hope we can reach everybody who’s still uninformed about this. Roni is a fantastic blogger and a wonderful person, so I’m sorry this had to happen to her.
It’s terrible when you see things like this happen to people like Roni, isn’t it? Thank you for helping to spread the word, Anne!
I have purchased photos from both Dreamstine and Fotolia for use on my site. It is my understanding they are available for purchase for use in this manner. I’ll be taking my own from now on. Thanks for the heads-up.
I rarely post photos on my blog (I know, boring), unless they are my own. I figure what the heck; I’m writing a blog for grown-ups, not a picture story…
This has me a little worried. The pictures I post on my blog are screencap of my ranking from Amazon and I sometimes recommend books that I have read and use the book cover and then link the book to various Amazons so people can check out the novel I am on about. Now, I am worried would Amazon mind that I am using screencaps? Or authors? I know there are other sites that list books and put up the cover and don’t ask the authors first. What should I do?
I use clipart.com for my images for my blog. Similar copyright concerns is why I deleted my pinterest boards some months ago.
Yes, clipart.com costs for a subscription, but it’s cheap, and you can use it anytime throughout the year. I’m actually surprised WG2E doesn’t use a service like that for their posts.
A good source to check for public domain images is on a government site. Be sure to read the usage blurb listed on each site, or google their guidelines.
For example, NASA has many images that can be reused without permission — check their GRIN (Great Images in NASA) site. A credit attributing the image to them is generally all you’ll be asked for.
I use a site called freedigitalimages.net. They offer some small, basic images for free and if you want a better photo, different size or dpi, then you pay a small amount for them. So far, the free versions of the photos have been fine for my blog.
Fortunately I use very few images in my blog/website but I’ve ensured those I do use I have permission to use. I got caught out very early in the Indie publishing game with a book cover image that I believed was free to use – until the image holders set me straight. It was, luckily, resolved without lawyers or expenses but I learned the lesson well.
does this also apply to non commercial blogs?
there is nothing being gained by the blogger other than illustration of whatever the post refers to.
personally, i would take someone’s interest in publishing a pic from my blog as a compliment that actually widens my influence rather than creating a legal scenario that damages your character and shrinks your reach!