There is a member of these forums selling a script to make a wallpaper site using Bing's search. He claims to do this through Bing's XML and uses this link as an example: http://www.bing.com/images/async?q=yourtags&format=xml When I go to that URL, Microsoft issues this copyright notice: Some of the sites he uses as examples using this script are: tweep.it temu.in vidsrc.com My question is whether using the script in this way is violating Bing's/Microsoft's terms of use? Am I missing something? Thanks for your feedback.
I should clarify that my interest in this is that I have considered purchasing the script but do not want to if it could get me in trouble down the line. Thanks.
The "wallpapers" don't look like wallpapers and are the property of some other party. Looking at just one script I saw photos and images that are from the English Premier League. They may be embedded from another website. If you plan on making money from them, I'm confident that eventually your source will eventually be taken down. You never get all that something for almost nothing. Part of the problem with this script, IMHO, if you're actually worried about legalities is that it openly encourages downloading as well via a save as. Unless you know how to set up user generated content sites under the DMCA, you're wading into territory that may invite takedowns. Sports teams, Disney, Getty Images and several others are extremely vigilant when it comes to copyright infringement, especially in mass fashion like this might be. Just my opinion, others may differ.
Thanks so much for your helpful feedback. Good points. As for my original question, are you saying that Bing is not an issue, then? The real issue is the images from the original site?
I can't say whether the script does or doesn't use, in an infringing manner, intellectual property that is the property of Microsoft. You can assume that unless otherwise explicitly specified by Microsoft, making any use of their code is probably infringement. Is this an API call or is this just code taken from Bing's visible source code that works? Instinct tells me that if you're trying to pull images from Bing in a way that Microsoft would not prefer (browsing your site instead of theirs), you could probably assume that Microsoft probably doesn't want you doing what you hope to do. Ask the author of the script and see what he or she has to say as to the source of their rights and then make an informed decision.