Pictures on Websites

If they put it on their website and you can find it online, then it should be ok. Most websites/companies, if they want their rights reserved, would watermark or sign their images.

I'm no legal guru though so that's just my opinion

 

I know that flickr has the creative commons, where many websites use photos in there.

Or what about free stock photos from deviant art.com?

 

that's not entirely true. i do web pages and used a picture found off the web. months later, we got a from the owner telling us to take it down or she'd sue.

most social sites have stipulations on how you can use their photos especially for commercial purposes. for example, some stes allows you to link pictures but not store them on your site. if it's a business website, it's better if you take the pictures yourself or pay for them, just to be safe.

there are alot of royalty free site you can download pictures from. i use dreamstime.com and cliparts.com

 

anything that someone else designs or creates, or anything that involves someone else's creative mind is a no go, unless that specifically state you can use it. Try http://www.sxc.hu/ some people want to be credited, others dont. Just shoot them an email and ask.

 

As soon as an image is published on the internet. It is deemed free for anyone to use, unless they go through the trouble of copyrighting it.

 

interesting... do you have a source for this? i'd like to know for commercial use also. can i take a picture of say... johnny depp from the web and use him to endorse my product?

 

this thread is useless without pics

 

just like the op, i'd like to know. it's oddly difficult to find concrete info on using images from another website on google. does anyone have a source concerning who image becomes public domain? are images automatically copyrighted once publish? the popular idea that everything is free game doesn't seem correct.

 

He doesn't because he's wrong. The "Berne Convention Implementation Act of 1988" changed US law so that copyright attaches automatically upon creation of the work. (link). While a registered copyright makes litigation easier, it's not a prerequisite for the right to be enforceable. The internet is a form of publication, like a magazine or television show. It does not affect the validity of a copyright.

I don't know who RedRedemption thinks "deemed" internet pictures fair use, but it wasn't the US Government...

 

Good free sites mentioned, but Istock.com has reasonably inexpensive pictures. You buy a certain amount of credits for $18 up, then you can use varying amounts of those credits based on the pic size you use.

 

Member since July 2009 and already 1200 posts. I hope the others weren't as useless as this one.
Don't reply to the OP if you don't know the answer.

 

I am both a web design freelancer and student, and this was covered early on in my classes. It's never OK to assume that an image is in the public domain.

Here are some places that offer images that you can both use and modify...

http://www.morguefile.com/

http://www.sxc.hu/index.phtml (be sure to check the restrictions below each image)

http://search.creativecommons.org/

 

This is just NOT TRUE. But, to your point, as soon as you create a work it is LEGALLY copyrighted so, even if your statement were true, you'd still have to ask permission.

The problem, of course, is proving your copyright so that's why you file with the Library of Congress. But you don't have to file for something to be copyrighted.

This means that, for the most part, EVERY picture you see on any webpage is copyrighted and you can't use it legally without permission. Of course, if you steal it and the owner threatens to sue you they have to prove they own the copyright. If they can't there is not much they can do as it will cost them too much to claim. However, if they can, it will not only cost you whatever a court finds you made off the picture but there is a very large fine involved as well.

From http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/

Do I have to register with your office to be protected?
No. In general, registration is voluntary. Copyright exists from the moment the work is created. You will have to register, however, if you wish to bring a lawsuit for infringement of a U.S. work.

From: http://www.enlightphoto.com/copyrght.htm

What if I use a picture without permission?
I work hard to make these images; they are how I make my living, and how I feed my family. To protect myself and my images, all images have been registered with the Library of Congess' Copyright Office. If you elect to use an image (mine, or anyone's) without obtaining proper permission, U.S. Copyright Laws allow a number of remedies available to the artist. These include:

* Up to $150,000.00 in statutory damages per case of infringement.
* Payment of Artist's Legal fees.
* Percentage of Business Profits from date of use.
* Closure of offending web-site. (If used on the Internet)

I can't vouch for the above web-site but it is constant with what I had read before.


If you find a picture on the Internet that you like why don't you just e-mail the owner and ask if you can use it in return for giving the owner photographic credit and a link to their website? I've done that before with some Belizian tourist company. I wanted to use this Belize logo they had on my site and asked if I could use it if it linked back to their site and they said fine.

10 Big Myths about copyright explained