Many blogs have grown popular by leaps and bounds which consist mainly of, or solely of, hundreds of beautiful images uploaded via image URL, without permission by the image copyright holder. As innocent an act this is there may be a piper to pay one day for doing so, and it won't be cheap!
There is new web bot technology which is very hot right now, and companies are using it for their clients who wish the bots to crawl the web and seek out their images
on websites, blogs, and social websites that are posted without their permission. I suppose we have become too comfortable posting any image with merely a image
source or include disclaimer pages, but this will not protect us from
lawsuits, take this from Roni Loren (see below.)
Included below are two very good links with
information on this subject, and I URGE you to read them both. The second is a first-hand account of
what happened to writer, Roni Loren.
- Blogger Beware: You CAN Get Sued For Using Photos You Don't Own on Your Blog - by Roni Loren blogher.com
11 comments:
I think this is good news for those who steal...but I really don't understand how when a photo is found via google that it any longer belongs to anyone. You know what they say...www is like the wild wild west...without a sheriff. On my online news sites, I have gotten a few stiff reprimands...interestingly enough...on my column wine 101...for using w/o permission. my bad...I really try not to do it anymore..they google in some very obscure sentence and up you pop.
The first link which is newer backs up the second link, bless that lady, perfectly. It is a mad world we live in. I have a lot to think about, especially pinterest. I knew it was too good to be true.
Pure Vida -
the sheriff is back in town, and so are the criminals who use the law to scare, harrass and extort using the law to lawless measures. Tumblr is where I find the most beautiful images, and yet extremely difficult to find who took the images originally.
Anon.-
Yes, the second link, where the writer had to deal for a long time with this, I hold her in high esteem for getting through the nightmare, and she never disclosed her losses, but they were substantial.
TSL~ I had another thought..in my past I downloaded a photo~ it seemed like it was a white cat with penetrating blue eyes-- and for the life of me cannot even imagine needing a photo like that, but it drew me in and slammed my whole computer.
This is very scary because I innocently thought if it was on google w/o a copy write blurb...you could use it. I say YIKES!
Everyone does, I suppose, feel that way. I think the way technology and commerce is moving, bloggers are going to have to be savvy; go back to using their own photos whenever possible, do their legwork again and locate the person who took the images and ask permission as it was done in the beginning. With the advent of Pinterest and especially Tumblr, it was as if one could take a little here and a little there and create a magazine type exciting blog, something everyone would love, yummy large photos, etc., relating to General Q Public and their taste for beauty, what-have-you, and run with it. But the thing is, magazines get permission or use their own images; tele the same way, everyone had to sign off on things, and every i dotted and t's crossed.
Once in a while I've gotten an email from someone that said they used an image of mine on their blog. I never mind, I'm actually always flattered and would never imagine suiting them. Of course the blog always has said something nice. I would feel different if it were something ugly. I guess asking permission before publishing would be safest.
I feel the same way, Lori, always happy for others to use my images in a non-commercial way, but others do not feel the same way, and are hiring companies to use their technology and go after those using their images without expressed consent. There is big money to be had, and I am certain this is going to be huge.
That Roni Loren link gave me a big fat headache. Poor girl. Glad I just bop around on the interest and don't blog.
Kathy W.
After this morning, gives me a big headache, too. Thanks for your comment.
I am not sure how I found your blog, but this article and the comments are quite enlightening. Thank you for this.
Bises,
Genie
Genie, I thank you so much. I posted in an effort to help others though it isn't fun thinking one has to do all the checks and balances to post images online. Kind of takes the fun out of it!
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