I am planning to start a new blog about "new-inventions" in which I am going to present news related to all new and latest inventions. Can I use photographs in my site that are already present on other sites related to this field? If using pictures from other sites is illegal then from where I can get photos related to my theme.
Dude...if you are ready to make investment,then you can get unique pictures,like the other people do.
Is it so? can you tell me resources from where I can get unique pictures and how much that will cost. Can i get unique pictures related to my each and every post? And most important thing is that if I post around 2 posts daily then won't you think investment on pictures will be terribly high.
You could e-mail site owners, who have photos you would like to use, and ask them for permission to use them on your site. When writing them, state your web site's purpose clearly. Offer to give photo credits if necessary. It's worth a shot!
I am planning this blog for informative cause, but surely I will momentize it later. Sending e-mail to other sites and waiting for their replies is very tedious. I have seen many images duplicated on different sites. For example recently I saw a photograph of a new game keyboard on two big sites: Gizmodo and Engadget. That image was same on both sites. Doesn't that violate copywrite rule. Isn't there some other easy method for using images from other sites. Will putting a small line below each image as (courtesy from...) serves the purpose.
No, it will not serve the purpose. In order to not violate copyright law you must have express written permission from the owner of that copyright to use something. that means you will have to do the tedious thing. There are no if's, and's or but's. If you want, you can take the chance, but if someone finds out you are using them, then there are many options available for that person. Anything from ignoring it, to asking you to stop/cease and desist order, to suing you. If you want to take the chance, then don't worry about asking for permission. It doesn't matter how many other sites you see breaking copyright laws, its still breaking the law. And you don't know for sure that someone is breaking the law, they may have gone through this tedious task as you call it. If you are serious about keeping your self safe from civil and criminal liabilities, go through the process. Otherwise, you may loose any and all profits you receive from using that image, including PPC advertisement. It doesn't matter what your plans are for the blog, the law doesn't say you may not use someone's creation for your own purpose unless you are making a blog for informative purposes, it says you can't, period. Only way is with express written permission. Also, just because a copyright notice is not there, doesn't mean it is not copyright. Any creative work created after 1976 does not require notice, but is protected as soon as it is created.
While hostlonestar is right, you might keep in mind that press releases often have images attached that you are allowed to use. Here is an example: http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2007-06/uoca-uoc061407.php If you want to find all the "invention" press releases from Eurekalert, you can go here: http://search.eurekalert.org/e3/que...on&ex=&rq=0&oq=&qm=0&ql=&st=1&nh=10&lk=1&rf=1
Yes, there are some press releases/other news that you will be allowed to use, same as some sites will have somewhere on their pages that you are free to use whatever you want to from their site. However, a lot of the international/national mainstream news (cnn, msnbc, etc.) do not allow you to reproduce anything in any way without getting express written permission. Make sure you look around the sites, a lot of sites will say in their terms and conditions somewhere whether or not you are free to take the content or if you have to get permission. Don't want you to get caught up in that kind of drama man.
Thanks hostlonestar for this great explanation. And thanks for that link Nonny. By the way while searching for this answer to this question I found that Flickr provide photos with Creative Commons License. and these photos can be used freely without any permission. Is that true? or there is some condition on that also.
There are different Creative Commons Licenses, some of which allow commercial reuse, and some that do not. The best way to find images to use on Flickr is to do the following: - Go to the Advanced Search - enter your keywords, media type, date and other search terms - scroll down to the bottom and ** most importantly ** check two boxes, "Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content", then "Find content to use commercially" That means the only images that come up on the search will be content you can use for commercial purposes, like your blog. Most of those also require you to acknowledge the source, so be sure to do that if you use them. There should be a link to the specific CC License details on every photo page.