Hey people hope this is in the right section. I want to know if it's possible to take photos from other major websites and use them on your own site but have them click back to the original site I got them from? Is that legal? I understand it's illegal to take other websites content but was wondering if it's ok to do it by saying "this image is courtesy of....."and then link it back to them. Maybe I will email and ask each site...
Depends on the webmaster's personality. As long as you link back, he'll most likely appreciate the free traffic.
I would always ask for permission first, because you're not allowed to use any copyrighted image without permission. What I do, is that I use creative commons pictures from Flickr. You can find awesome pictures in any category at Flickr, and when it's the creative commons license, there's not problem using them.
Even i would prefer the same method used by slymarketing. It is always good to take permission prior to whatever you do with others stuff, this way you can get on a safer side always!
Look over carefully the site where you download images. On some photo gallery sites you may read the message that you can use their photos for any application as you require - web design, graphics, backgrounds, printed images, desktop wallpaper, screensavers and etc. Then they listed exceptions - places where images may not be added without written permission from their owners.