On my blog and website I have linked written words to images. These are links not photos pasted to my blog or site. Is this okay? And how does linking apply to the 4 rules below? 1. Avoid copying imagery. 2. Avoid copying illustrations 3. Avoid copying literary work that isn't directly related to the formula of producing the final product 4. Avoid reproducing a complete collection Here is an example I have - We're here to (help). "Help" is a link to a pic somewhere else via google images. ADDENDUM - As I read more it seems that any linking to another image (not your own) and copying a YouTube url into your blog is all copyright infringement. Yet how does the Fair Use rule come in? And if what I am doing is illegal then how come Google can inventory all the images that they do have without getting into trouble? So can I get into hot water then? The more I dig the more confusing it is.
Google shows thumbnails of images - yet they have been sued for infringement and lost. Most people aren't going to sue google because of the huge legal costs they are going to incur (six figures is possible). You should not use or display images on your site without express permission. Fair Use can be a foggy area, but it doesn't prevent you from being sued for infringement. Generally, if your site is commercial in nature (take in any form of income - ads, donations, etc.) regardless of whether or not you make a profit, you are not going to be able to use fair use as a defense. There are sites like istockphoto which allow you to purchase usage of images for a low cost compared to the legal expense you could incur should someone decide to sue you for infringement and demand a usage fee per image (thousands per image is not uncommon). If youtube has provided a url to embed the video, then that is permission from youtube and you won't have any issue from them if you follow their tos (however, technically you could still be in trouble if someone besides the owner uploaded the video).
Thanks mjewel - basically what I got from your response is that "yes" even linking to a pic (not having it on my site) can get me into trouble. But to embed a YouTube video is okay since they provided the tools to do it.... although the owner could hammer me still if desired. I have a lot of written words I have to change back from links to regular words now. DANG IT Especially since I am trying to build a business with the site.
Do these links actually take the web surfer to another page? If so, I see no issues with what you are doing. Linking to other sites is okay. I did an example in my reply of a link which is okay. I am not clear on exactly what you are actually doing.
Hi browntwn, your example is exactly what I am talking about. A word becomes a link that takes the user to a pic at another URL away from my site. It's not an issue of me posting others pics on my site. So this is okay?
Posting a link to another image isn't a problem. I thought you were talking about displaying the image via hotlinking (which is why I said "display"). As long as the image is not displaying on your site (whether or not you are hosting it) then you are fine - although I am not sure why you want to that unless it is really important to the content... There is no SEO benefit and it only encourages someone to leave your site. If you were linking to files that were copyright infringement, then that's a different story.
I don't think you can get in trouble for this. Say your website displays an trademark image (which is hosted elsewhere), you can get a notice to cease if the company doesn't like it.