Photos without breaking copyright rules

[Erin6]

Hi, friends!

Happy Friday, everyone. How often, if ever, do you worry about copyright infringement? I personally use a lot of random photos from the internet on webinars and demo sites. Okay, honestly, they aren't so random... most of the images are of cupcakes.

Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, copyright infringement. I feel like it's so easy for us to just grab a pic off of Google and not worry about it, but in reality, we should definitely be aware that these images may belong to other people. It's always great practice to make sure the image is available for reuse. We also recommend asking the photographer/image owner's permission and give them credit. 

So, the real question here is: How do you find amazing images to use on your site without infringing on copyright rules? Thankfully, there are two easy strategies you can take!

First - and you're probably already doing this - use Google image search, and use it wisely. Don't just use the first image you see! Again, we don't want to steal images. For example, I always use the Usage Rights options in the Google Images Search Tools to make sure I am using a image labeled for reuse. 

Second - this one may surprise you - use Facebook!

Want details on these two tricks? I bet you do! Head on over to our Inspiration Center for the details.

Just to throw it out one more time, you should always do your due diligence when it comes to the images you use. Taking the time to find images that don't infringe on copyrights is always worth the effort. 

That's all for me! Enjoy your weekend, folks.

Erin

Weebly Community Manager

[AT5]

Hi Erin, 

Is it ok to use a photo if you give credit or direct people to the place where you found it? 

Thank you,

Alison 

[Erin6]

Hey!

Yep, that's always a great idea! Thanks for the addition, Alison.

Enjoy your day,
Erin

[purecaboose]

Hey Alison,

In a short answer, No. It is not OK to use another persons work without their permissions even if you give credit.

You either need their permission, or utilise thier work as allowed under the copyright acts for fair use.

Regards

PureCaboose

[WillyWinks]

I am not aware of the photo that you are talking about. Could you let me know which one you are taking about and I will gladly take it down. Thanks for helping me maintain my integrity. 

[DennisBloodnok]

@AT, to answer more fully and to pull all the other threads of this topic together, it is generally seen as acceptable on the web to feature someone else's photo on your site if:

1. you are linking to it rather than taking a copy of the photo (i.e. an img tag where the src attribute points to the photo's original location),
2. you include credits to the copyright owner with a clickable link back to the owner's site/page and
3. you are not using it for any kind of commercial gain.

Debatably, you could even do the above with a copy of the photo, since that's what Pinterest and Tumblr do. This amounts to what's generally regarded as fair use.

HOWEVER....

As has been pointed out already, every photo has a copyright owner, and they have the ultimate say on how the image can or cannot be used (debates on fair use aside). If your site is for some kind of commercial gain, you have to either use images presented under one of the "free use" licenses (such as creative commons) or you have to license the images you want to use. You can do this directly with the photographer if you find the image on their web site (mine, as an example), you can search on stock photo web sites (Getty Images, Shutterstock etc.) or you can search on and license through various community-style sites (e.g. 500px) where many photographers have a profile.

Realistically, there is easily enough free-to-use imagery out there, even on Getty Images and so on, that you don't need to use licensed photos unless you find one that is absolutely ideal for you, or where you want to get exclusive rights on that image.

Hope that all helps

[jhall124]

UnSplash is a good source for free (use as you please) photos.

[purecaboose]

Just because you find it on the web does not mean it is free.

My wife is a professional photographer who regurarly has her photos stolen and re-used on other web sites. We simply send them a $2,000 invoice for the use of the photo and use the court to enforse our claims.

Writing here officially as Weebly advising people to steal images is wrong on so many levels.

Unless the photo specifically advises that it has no copyright, or is creative commons or similar it is best to assume it owned by someone. The site you are stealing it from may not even own the image and they may have stolen it from someone else.

[Erin6]

Hey, there!

Thanks for your post, and I really appreciate your feedback. I'm sorry to hear that your wife has images stolen. I'm sure that is a very frustrating experience for both of you!

I also want to apologize if my post came off as guidance for stealing images. In fact, I'm trying to do the exact opposite. I completely agree that just because you find an image, doesn't mean that you can use it.     Although these posts generally point to the original posts for details, as I mentioned above, I'm happy to make edits that specify what I meant by using Google wisely (including using the permissions search tool). 

Thanks again for for weighing in,

Erin

[JustImagine]

@purecaboose

Hi Purecabouse,

I totally understand what you mean, but with all due respect, Erin's post didn't come accross as a recommendation for stealing images. I don't see it that way. Quite opposite, she warns everybody to be carefull and NOT to use other people's property.

[AL12]

Hey,

I've listed 5 free royalty-free for commercial use websites. I use many of these great options for my blog. Hope this helps!

http://www.bossybynature.co/it-costs-to-be-a-boss/five-free-stock-photo-sites-that-will-beautify-you...

[bobafett]

@purecaboose:  I totally agree with you.  I believe that if you have a website to make money, you should pay.  There are many places where images can be obtained either free or for a small fee.  If you can;t afford to pay you should not be in business.

As a suggestion, I have seen many photographers donate their images to Unsplash, Pixabay or flicker (under creative commons licenses) as a source of advertizing as well as benchmarking themselves.  If they accept your images and if people download them  you are good, otherwise you are just a person with good camera.

[VZ1]

A simple request by asking for permission is required first before any images from a website is re-used online in any format, including screenshots of images, modified, or altered from its original form from a website.

Any disclaimer used with any text/images from a website is invalid if prior permission was not requested, or granted by the original owner of the images which will result in copyright infringement.

[DanielMederich]

Hi,

I personally utilize Wikimedia Commons. Then I try to find something that might work. All attributions are provided on there for the artists. That way I know I am staying relatively safe. However some artists indicate other uses for their work and so I recommend checking out the fine print at the bottom of their photo sites.

[Erin6]

Such a great resource @DanielMederich! Thank you for the suggestion.

[DanielMederich]

No problem @Erin 

[gpvt3301]

I was about to post this exact thing when I noticed that it had already been done. This is an issue with which I am seriously concerned, as a victim of numerous infringements of my photos. I would like to add that Weebly's YouTube tutorial shows how to add photos to your new website by simply going online I'm taking them. There is no mention whatsoever of the fact that many of these images are copyrighted. People should be aware that infringement carries some very serious consequences.