June 11, 2012

Copyright Issues

Photo by Zscout370 at Wikicommons
Bloggers need to be aware of copyright issues. In fact, you need to be very careful. I've learned the hard way. I've found pictures mainly by googling the topic I'm writing about and then looking at the image search. Well, I found out that is the wrong thing to do. I've been contacted by the artist of a picture that I used and if I can't get it to quit showing in Google's cache image search by today, I will be added to a list of people this person is taking legal action against.

Last Friday, I deleted the photo in the post, as well as in another post from my group blog. I've deleted the photo on my hard drive and downloads. I have deleted the photo in Google+ cache and in Picasa Albums (all google products linked to blogger) I have even sent Google a request to remove the photo from their image search. But I don't know that it will be done by today.

Since this happened, I went through all my photos in my blogs, hard drive, Picasa, Google, etc and deleted ALL photos that I do not have rights to. I am trying to do what is right.

All this has got me thinking, what about Pinterest? What about You Tube? If it is not legal to use other people's pictures, then how do these sites keep track of the legalities? I don't get it.

Another thing that is bugging me. As I was researching how to get that photo completely deleted, I realized how interconnected things are. Blogger is connected to Google, and Picasa, and Google+. I had no idea Google+ kept a cache of all the pictures I use in my blog posts that I post in Google+. It's crazy. And it makes me just a bit reticent to blog.

Anyway, just wanted to share what I've been learning....the hard way.

p.s. The picture is no longer showing up! Thank goodness!

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14 comments:

  1. Oh no. That's awful especially since it was an honest mistake.
    I use Dreamstime free images. I can't always get exactly the image I want all the time, but at least I can use them.

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    1. Jennifer, I've never heard of Dreamstime, but I will definitely check it out. I'm gathering up these sites for future use!

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  2. Sherrinda, I had a photographer contact me awhile back about an image showing in my blog, but he was super nice and said he liked the blog and asked for a photo credit. So I made sure to do that for him. But I used to do the same thing. Since then, I've been using freedigitalphotos (dot) net. Like Jennifer, I can't always find the exact picture I want and I use less of them, but it's better than not blogging! Don't stop blogging!

    It's a headache and I'm glad you got it resolved. Hugs!

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    1. I'm so glad it is resolved too! Finding usable pictures takes so much longer!!!! But oh well. I"m not going to quit blogging. ;)

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  3. If you need images for your blogs, the best thing is to take your own pics or draw them. Next best is Morguefile.com This site offers copyright free images to use, many without attribution. Some of the posters request you send them an email and a link where the image is used. Another great site for copyright free images is The Graphics Fairy. http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/ Karen offers zillions of images from her site.

    By posting images on Pinterest, you grant the company the right to do what they want with the images. Their TOS are confusing because they encourage pinning, but you are supposed to own the copyright to the things you pin. Their terms sent a chill down my spine, so I sadly deleted my account there.

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    1. How can you own the rights to the things you pin???? That is weird. I've seen some sights that HAVE the Pin button, so I assume they are granting permission to pin their stuff.

      I've never heard of The Graphics Fairy, but I'm checking it out for sure! Thanks!

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    2. I don't think many people have read Pinterest's terms. So they think with the pin button they are permitting people to pin. What they miss is once on Pinterest, Pinterest can use the image any way they want. For example, they can print tee shirts and make a profit selling, but the original artist does not share in profits or credit.

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  4. Sherrinda, this situation is no fun! I really feel like what you've done has taken care of the issue, but I will still pray. In the meantime, I'm going to make a bigger list of places people use for pictures so we know!

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    1. Thanks, Cindy! I like your idea of making a list. I was thinking of doing a blog post about places to get usable pictures.

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    2. I was going to say, SOMEONE should do that! We already had some ideas and there are some here, too! You should definitely do a post - then I can copy it to a file and save it for future reference, too :)

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  5. I generally use Stock Exchange, which has a variety of free photos, but sometimes I get lazy and forget. Eek. This is a good reminder to be careful.

    As for YouTube, anybody who posts videos on YouTube has the ability to to prevent people from embedding their video on their site. They can disable that setting. So if someone has not taken that step, my understanding is their video is for the taking (er, embedding).

    But yeah, it's so crazy how interconnected everything is!

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    1. I've heard of Stock Exchange, but haven't used it. I probably should start researching more sites to use. I just hate taking the time looking. lol

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  6. Eek, is right! This was a good reminder to be careful. Hope everything has been resolved.

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    1. So far, I think everything is okay. I worked hard getting everything made right, so hopefully everything is right!

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