Hello DPr's I jst created a Tech related site for which i want ur little help. I want to know regarding how i should mention authorship to the images i use from the internet on my blog ? time being, i m jst adding a non linked URL from the source i take photos... Since the site is tech related, i only use images of mobile, laptop etc from the internet that are recent or released earlier in order to give a more picturesque idea to viewers. As a part of attributing the image i generally add a caption below that image. So, m bit confused wondering whether this method is enough to make use of copyrighted images from net? or i got to do something more to stay away from violation Majority of my site only concentrates on the content i write which is manually done by me and soon i am going to add a disclaimer regarding uses of images and photos too! your help will be appreciated Thanks Vita Site: (Check my Signature)
Well the first thing you might want to do is to post in the correct sub-forum. CopyWRITING is different from copyRIGHT. The first deals with creating "copy," which pertains to advertorial/marketing material that is in written form. The latter is what you are dealing with.
One possible solution is to buy images which are royalty free - meaning I suppose once you buy them, you can use them without having to pay again. If you Google that you will find plenty online. Just mentioning that someone created an image does not necessarily allow you to use the images.
I'm sure if I just mention I borrowed the book from the library and scanned it before I uploaded it to the internet that would eliminate any copyright liability....How is what you are doing any different? You could use images which are available for affiliates to use. You could go to the vendors websites and check in their news and press release sections for images which have been released for publication. You could take your camera and go to a tech store and take pictures of the items. You could take the time to search for images which are licensed for reuse on Google Image advance search or on Flickr advanced search. You could buy images from stock photo sites. All of these methods are legal and will not get you in trouble.
but what to do if the product is jst released.. for instance..what if tomrw they release Iphone 6 ? i mean i can search in the stores for existing models, but i cant grab a snap of recent launch from such stores. I back your point that atleast i can use the photos that are given in press release of any company if that product is launched new (mentioning the source of authorship), apart from few news sites and other pro tech blogs, there seems no sites whose staff will go to cover the whole launch event within their cameras. Its like if u are the owner of apple and releasing new Iphone 6, guys like us would take a pic of that Iphone and show it to our viewers (helping your company to promote it more) So, this seems like a more Win-Win situation as we are just showing the photo and not selling the real Iphones! Though pics i am using may be violating copyrights, but i think in future also m only going to make fair use of it for just conveying a light pictorial idea to viewers with Image Source in the caption as a part of Attribution.
Regarding use of images and photos at my site, I only use photos of Latest products or devices like mobile phones, laptops and such! that too with no fancy gallery decoration or other self-edit methods, rather a simple photo with a view clear enough for viewers to have a idea about its looks. Thanks for your replies, if you find anything more useful just let me know. Every single point seems helpful
When someone has a product line photographed(where these pics come from) they are usually spending thousands of dollars, then when someone just takes the pics and uses them for free.? it is basically considered stealing. Someone spent money on these pics unless you get their permission you have no right to use them in the legal world.
Basically you can stop doing it. It's theft however you want to try dressing it up in " I only do ........" etc. How would you feel if you spent $100,000 on something and some jerk just came along and used all your images and then said "Though pics i am using may be violating copyrights, but i think in future also m only going to make fair use of it for just conveying a light pictorial idea to viewers with Image Source in the caption as a part of Attribution. " You are even admitting that you are using copyrighted material. Which bit of copyright do you not understand, or have you found some "Copyright. All rights reserved (except for vita-admin)" images. Expect a big penalty in the near future.
yea... i would feel humiliated if that happens... but if i m going to spent $100k on something, it would be a product and not a PHOTO and i will allow all of the jerks to use it as it will help me in spreading a word regarding my product unless they give proper attribution to it. However, i can't take that photo which is been shot by others like Averyz said above "PRODUCT LINE PHOTOGRAPH" still, can't i use a image from the manufacturer's blog or so while giving complete attribution to him/her under the fair use terms? and for instance, if you google "Nexus 10" you will see more than single photos which are repeated on different sites as its a Gadget and not ART, so this looks bit obvious that some way or other those gadget photos are still going to be copied because the product belongs to one owner(Apple, Sony etc) and every News or Tech sites is making use of it. If you are in my place what possible moves you can do, if you own same site as me?
Write to the blog owner and ask for written permission, the product owner and ask for written permission and see what they say. It doesn't matter if they spent $100,000 or $1 - it's not yours to use as you choose. What you do with your own photographs is up to you - what you do with other people's is not, no matter how great a service you think you are doing them by distributing them all over the internet. Get a copyright lawyer and get the facts. It will be a lot cheaper than when you get sued. Using your analogy, when you have spent $100,000 on your product would you be happy if somebody gave it away for free? Of course not, even though it would be "spreading the word".
Okies... i can give a try to this suggestion of yours """"Write to the blog owner and ask for written permission, the product owner and ask for written permission and see what they say.""" lets c if they can reply (hopefully if they care for my email)
I'm not a lawyer but I've spent hours upon hours studying American copyright law. It sounds like this falls under the provisions of reviews. Stuff is a bit confusing there. Generally, if you are reviewing a product, you can use excerpts (not the entire article) from news stories and other reviews, IF you attribute where the material came from. I think (you should check) that photos would be included in that. It seems to me, the best solution would be to go to the manufacturer's site and use their product photos. You probably will still be breaking their copyright but I suspect most manufacturers would overlook a bit of copyright infringement in exchange for the free publicity you are giving them. General advice...if any of the photos are watermarked with "Getty Images"...DO NOT TOUCH THEM...EVER. They are quite nasty about protecting their copyrights and have been known to try to even bully folks about photos that should be in the public domain in the USA (i.e. photos of public domain 2-dimensional artworks and illustrations). And finally, just because you don't have the funds to purchase the equipment yourself or pay royalties for use of the photos does not mean you are free to help yourself to someone else's work. Just as you no doubt intend to use these photos to make money online, so do they.
Ahh... this post sounds helping! My portal is not 100% based on review, you can say 10-20% is based on reviews and that also when i get to hear new reviews about some device or so (rest is about mentioning d latest know-how you get to see for the first time regarding tech), even while writing reviews i would read it completely and then would write in my own words manually. """""""""""Stuff is a bit confusing there. Generally, if you are reviewing a product, you can use excerpts (not the entire article) from news stories and other reviews, IF you attribute where the material came from. I think (you should check) that photos would be included in that""""""""""""""""" I seen many sites using excerpts same as the source they taken from, yet what i m doing is i m also transforming those excerpts in my words rather than copying it simply. I don't know but for some reasons i don't like to copy them too. """""""""""""General advice...if any of the photos are watermarked with "Getty Images"...DO NOT TOUCH THEM...EVER. They are quite nasty about protecting their copyrights and have been known to try to even bully folks about photos that should be in the public domain in the USA (i.e. photos of public domain 2-dimensional artworks and illustrations).""""""""""""""" I just thought on this yesterday when i came across few photos that were watermarked, i m in no way going to use ever because after i had a close look on some of them, they were really nice photos taken manually and described in very detail, i think they deserve every possible rights to stay unique. I am also pretty sure about one thing, i am only going to use photos (for providing a mere physical outlook) of product and for that i think even 1-2 photos are enough and nothing more fancy (i l use photos from the manufacturer's site) ! Rest of the content will be Unique and no compromises in that, it was only a image issue that was making me bit worry hence thought to ask you all. Thanks for the replies and if you still have anything useful for me, kindly let me know.
What a waste of time. You asked a question, got answers you didn't want to hear and then finally when somebody says the thing you want to hear, you say this is helpful. Use copyrighted material at your own risk. You know you will be breaking the law.
Lol .. how can you judge that way? Every replies written above (including urs) is helpful in one way or another, but i said ""helpful"" for YMC's post becoz some one commented there after reading some rules from "American Copyright Laws" so, even if he is not 100% right, we atleast have some one who got mere idea about actual copyrights laws... read his post properly, its impartial (doesnt supports my assertion completely). Additionally, all these replies will also help other guys from this forum and internet to know more about copyrights issues. Hope i m not wasting anyone's time here as me too running short of it new ideas are always welcomed best, vita
I hardly said it was OK to steal. The law is vague. Simple as that. There are times when it is OK to use someone else's work without their permission if you are writing a review of their work. Unfortunately vita-admin, based on your last post it doesn't sound like you are actually writing a review of the other person's work. You are taking other reviews, rewriting them and claiming them as your own. Not good. 1st off, you are using their photos. Granted, they may have "borrowed" the photo from the manufacturer or someone else anyway but you won't be protected by the fact that they infringed first. The law says you can't just use someone else's photo. What I said was that few manufacturer's would probably sue you if you did. Secondly, if you are simply rewriting someone else's words...you are also infringing on their copyright. That falls under the concept of a derivative work. IF you are restating facts, i.e. the new gadget has 10MB of this, the screen measurements, etc. you are in the clear. But, if you are restating an opinion given by someone else, without citing them as the source, you are likely to be in trouble. What you are doing is being done all over the web. That fact doesn't make it legal. I suppose you could do a review along the lines of "Here's what folks are saying..." and compile the opinions of others. The problem there is it is getting harder to tell who originally said something because there are so many people rewriting the original and claiming it as their own. Plus, with affiliate sales driving so much of the conversation, it is becoming harder to identify which reviews are honest and which are simply trying to make a fast buck. I applaud you for asking the question. That hopefully means that you want to do the right thing. That in itself is refreshing. So many people just don't care.
Okay.... there are 2-3 reviews i rewrote from others, i will just edit those posts by stating the actual source links and hereafter i will take care to add source for reviews also... For this reason i never thought of making this 100% reviewing site because i cannot write my own reviews until i hold that product and sort it myself, for which i have 0% resources. Thanks for detailing though.