Hey there, On my website, I am creating a section that allows green businesses to upload photographs. I have a few legal concerns. I realize that all photos on the internet are not in the public domain. 1. As the website owner, do I need to try to verify that the image is in the public domain before it actually appears on my website? 2. Verifying each image can become very time consuming if thousands of photos are eventually added. I noticed facebook has a little disclaimer when uploading a photo: "I certify that I have the right to distribute these photos and that they do not violate the Terms of Use." Is this message all I need to have on the website? 3. If somebody complains that an image is copywritten, can they sue me before notifying me that the image is copywritten. For instance, if I find out an image is copywritten, I would gladly delete it from the gallery. 4. Does anybody know of any good websites to find environmental photos that are in the public domain? Thanks in advance for any advice or suggestions. Sincerely, Travis Walters
Almost no photos online are in the public domain. However, you can search sites like Flickr to find photos with Creative Commons licenses that are compatible with your intended usag.e
If you are allowing users to upload photos, you should look into making sure you qualify for the DMCA Safe Harbor provisions. You can read abut them here: http://www.chillingeffects.org/dmca512/faq.cgi I'm not sure what you mean by "environmental photos" but there are public domain photos of plants, animals, the environment and landscapes shared by a number of US Government agencies: USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service http://photogallery.nrcs.usda.gov/Index.asp National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association Photo Library http://www.photolib.noaa.gov/ US Fish & Wildlife Service National Digital Library http://www.fws.gov/digitalmedia Pennsylvania Game Commission Wildlife PHotos http://www.pgc.state.pa.us/pgc/cwp/view.asp?a=458&q=162298 [they ask for a credit] USDA Agriculture Research Service http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/graphics/photos/ [double check the terms of use for those sites, but I believe most or all their photos are in the public domain]
As a general matter, everything produced by the US government is in the public domain. Sometimes the government licenses images from other sources to use on web sites, though.
Anything produced by an employee of the United States Government as part of their job is in the Public Domain. The problem is that if an agency were to contract out the work then the that work is not in the public domain.