Blog question: Can you legally use photos from web?

spikedo · 08-15-2008, 03:40 PM

Maybe a dumb question, but I keep seeing blogs using photos found on other websites. No articles are copied and the blog entry accompanying the photo is ofetn a summary of the original article or a different take on the original article. What is allowed? Any feedback from blog operators would be great.

DDC_Cyn · 08-15-2008, 03:48 PM

The answer is "no" - legally you can't use anyone else's work without permission. Can you and do people - yes. Look at the photo - if it's a personal picture I wouldn't. If it's a candid of an actor, I wouldn't (get permission). If it's a publicity picture from a movie, TV show, poster art, book cover, DVD, etc. Not likely you'll get in trouble as long as you don't claim it for your own.

Generic pics - use a free site like www.sxc.hu - lots of great stuff, royalty free. (but do credit for the use.)

Barrucadu · 08-15-2008, 05:48 PM

Of course you can - if the license on the picture permits that use. A good place to look is flickr, as you can restrict search results to a certain license.

fatratstew · 08-16-2008, 10:40 AM

You have to be careful but licence-free photos are out there, although the best ones usually need to be paid for.

gaucho1976 · 08-17-2008, 11:09 AM

No, you can't. Easy as ABC. There's no way you can do it, exception made of celebrities (there's a legal way to do it) and some guvernment content as long as it is for educational/informational purposes and no profit.

However, you have sites that provide LEGAL content for free, I use http://www.sxc.hu/ but there are many more.

This being said, unless you have a really really REALLY big site, nobody will care much if you use an unlicensed pic, at worst they will send you a DMCA, now question is: do you REALLY need a picture found on google images or the such when you have images for free or you can buy almost any image you can think of for $1? IMHO, is better to do the right thing, as a designer I never used unlicensed content because that would mean potentially put my clients in trouble. Plus, if I don't find a free image I can pay $1. Heck, let's go crazy and buy 10 images for $10. It is worthy. Just my 2 cents, hope that helps

08-15-2008, 03:40 PM	#1 (permalink)
spikedo Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Domains 4 sale Posts: 1,570 171.70 NP$ (Donate)	Blog question: Can you legally use photos from web? Maybe a dumb question, but I keep seeing blogs using photos found on other websites. No articles are copied and the blog entry accompanying the photo is ofetn a summary of the original article or a different take on the original article. What is allowed? Any feedback from blog operators would be great. __________________ Domain names for sale \|Unique templates for sale \| Totally free stuff \| Play free games

08-15-2008, 03:48 PM	#2 (permalink)
DDC_Cyn NamePros Regular Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: The OC Posts: 385 15.00 NP$ (Donate)	The answer is "no" - legally you can't use anyone else's work without permission. Can you and do people - yes. Look at the photo - if it's a personal picture I wouldn't. If it's a candid of an actor, I wouldn't (get permission). If it's a publicity picture from a movie, TV show, poster art, book cover, DVD, etc. Not likely you'll get in trouble as long as you don't claim it for your own. Generic pics - use a free site like www.sxc.hu - lots of great stuff, royalty free. (but do credit for the use.) __________________ Maximize Your Revenue DDC -- Power Parking

08-15-2008, 05:48 PM	#3 (permalink)
Barrucadu Barru. Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: East Yorkshire, England Posts: 2,731 78.50 NP$ (Donate)	Of course you can - if the license on the picture permits that use. A good place to look is flickr, as you can restrict search results to a certain license. __________________ Website \| Blog \| Uzbl (my branch) 9thSeptember2009.com

08-16-2008, 10:40 AM	#4 (permalink)
fatratstew NamePros Member Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Bristol Posts: 42 0.00 NP$ (Donate)	You have to be careful but licence-free photos are out there, although the best ones usually need to be paid for. __________________ Why not learn PHP today?

08-17-2008, 11:09 AM	#5 (permalink)
gaucho1976 NamePros Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 119 10.00 NP$ (Donate)	No, you can't. Easy as ABC. There's no way you can do it, exception made of celebrities (there's a legal way to do it) and some guvernment content as long as it is for educational/informational purposes and no profit. However, you have sites that provide LEGAL content for free, I use http://www.sxc.hu/ but there are many more. This being said, unless you have a really really REALLY big site, nobody will care much if you use an unlicensed pic, at worst they will send you a DMCA, now question is: do you REALLY need a picture found on google images or the such when you have images for free or you can buy almost any image you can think of for $1? IMHO, is better to do the right thing, as a designer I never used unlicensed content because that would mean potentially put my clients in trouble. Plus, if I don't find a free image I can pay $1. Heck, let's go crazy and buy 10 images for $10. It is worthy. Just my 2 cents, hope that helps

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