Because this is an important topic and it affects many, Sophia and I decided to blog together today and post this on both of our blogs in hopes of reaching out to as many of our fellow bloggers as possible.
What Happened
Author Roni Loren was sued because of a photo she posted on her blog. (It happened to be one of those ‘mancandy/hot man’ photos that are popular on romance sites.) She recently bloggedaboutherexperience and educated many bloggers on what copyright and fair use is and how it pertains to us as bloggers. Her post is not meant as legal advice, but it certainly has some good information and is a starting point for many of us in educating ourselves on some of the laws we need to know to be better, more responsible bloggers.
How We Reacted
When we read Roni Loren’s blog post, we were shocked, and reacted by first, talking about this issue. We realized that it is not just crediting the source where the image comes from but not having the permission from the copyright holder of the image is where the heart of the matter lies. The fact of the matter is, we don’t want to infringe on anyone’s rights. Especially for the sake of a prettier blog post (or to admire hot abs).
What’s Next
We don’t think bloggers in general set out to violate copyright, but being ignorant of the laws or saying ‘everyone else does it’ is no excuse and we want to do the right thing. We took a good look at our blog posts through the years and deleted images we weren’t absolutely positive we had the rights to use (this is an on going process as we have a lot of blog posts to go through). In the future we will take care to only post images we have the right to use.
Now We’re Reaching Out To You
Blogging (and ogling smexy men) is fun and we can still put pretty pictures in our posts and admire rippled abs, hard bodies and hairy chests. (what?) We just have to do it responsibly and respect the rights of others. There is a lot of information out there, and it is hard to wade through it all. We encourage everyone to become as educated as they can and share what you learn with your fellow bloggers.
There are many resources available where images can be obtained legally for free or little cost. Here are a few resources we know of (Be sure to read their Terms of Service and know the risks):
● Wylio
● BigStock
You can also check Flickr and DeviantArt for creative commons images. Roni Loren also posted a second article about another photo service that has been created. Read it here.
We would love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on this topic!
Excellent post :-)
I was shocked as well when I first read Roni’s post (which I proceeded to read 3 more times just to let it all sink in) and read up on a pile of copyright information, Facebook terms of service and Pinterest terms of service.. And proceeded to re-do a lot of my boards and removed photos from my Facebook page & blog that weren’t mine.
I agree – the more we know, the better we are at what we do.. we all need to educate ourselves!
Yes, I deleted my Pinterest boards. I still need to go through Facebook.
I deleted a lot of mine, but still kept my book ones – with just the covers and links back to Amazon. I’ve gone through the ones I really loved and bookmarked the sites (for recipes & diy stuff) that I will use in the future.
I’ve also been doing a lot of reading about the subject and I’m still not sure I completely understand the how-to’s of everything. What about products from Etsy or pictures from online articles? If I wanted to put one of those in a blog post with a link back to the item/article is that a copyright violation or considered fair use?
Etsy – I’m not sure. I would say contact the seller (who most likely took the picture) and get permission to use it in your blog post?
Online articles – those pictures are the property of the photographer. copy/pasting and putting in your post, even if you credit the source, is not the same as getting permission.
(at least I think..I am no way an expert here :) )
Sigh, I’m getting such a headache. So when the US Copyright Office talks about fair use including “criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research”, it wouldn’t come into play (at least in regards to my above examples)? Or is this site (http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html) incorrect?
Oh no – I think it comes into play – but I think it is VERY broad. And as it says – The distinction between what is fair use and what is infringement in a particular case will not always be clear or easily defined.
I think as a defense, you are leaving yourself open to a lot of IF’S and BUT’s.
Because I really don’t know a lot about it though, I can’t give you advice other to say – I think everyone pleads Fair Use and I think it is up for much debate.
Thanks Mandi! Guess I just have to keep thinking/reading.
Copyright is tricky, it’s a much debated/discussed topic in the library world.
When I’m helping patron search for images to use I send them to Creative Commons Search http://search.creativecommons.org/, it’s not perfect but it helps narrow down what you can and can’t use.
The ALA has a lot of information on copyright and fair use. http://www.ala.org/advocacy/copyright/copyright101 there is a pdf check list on fair use that can be useful in understanding fair use. Fair use is a gray area and there is no solid yes or no when it comes to what is and what isn’t fair use of something.
Personally I look at the options the website I’m on gives for sharing the information. If they provide a Pin It button, I’ll pin it, if they give me the code to share it on my blog I’ll use it, but if they only have Twitter and Facebook, I’ll just mention what I want the reference and provide the link back to that page.
Thanks for the links. I’ll use an image if it has a “pin it” share button, only if it is from the creator of the photograph
I have to say that post scared me as well, because it can happen to anyone. Thanks for providing those links.
I know I’ve been guilty of assuming and we all know what that does, right? Not anymore. And I deleted my Pinterest account entirely. That whole process has always felt suspect, like a ticking time bomb, and I didn’t use it that much anyway.
Thanks for spreading the word, girls! I think we all get a little too complacent about things like this and it helps every once in a while to have a wake-up call, so to speak. Sorry it didn’t turn out well for Roni.
Yes, Pinterest went bye bye. I had 510 pics of mostly models…just waiting for the photographers to find them
This is such crap. Seriously? Its not like we are holding their photos hostage. Sorry, just pisses me off.
I am still crying over deleting my Gandy board, eyecandy board, magic mike board, Fassy board…..well you get the picture.
I kept my book review board and recipe board.
OK…I understand that the photos are their work. I just want to say that I am venting BUT complying. Don’t bash me. *hides behind Mandi*
No, I understand your frustration!! It’s no fun..but something we have to keep in mind :)
I intentionally stayed away from using images I didn’t own because I was afraid of this very thing. I thought I was being good by imbedding Oibtrist photos that gave the owners name that posted it, but I am taking those off now as well. During all of this I wondered about the book covers. 90% of my book covers come from the authors themselves, which worries me if they own them or the publishers. Where do you legally get book cover images? That has been my biggest worry. Is using the image from Amazon Asdociates legal? It’s always too small but if tgat’s the best legal way to do it, then I guess I will start updating.
Sorry that should have been “embedding Pintrest”…spell check strikes again!
From everyone I’ve talked to – book covers are covered under fair use and are okay to use. Again, that is not legal advice, just what people have told me on Twitter :) I’ve also heard movie posters/movie stills are okay as well
I think book covers are okay, if you keep the tekst on them. If you remove the tekst (authors name and title and such) it is the picture made by the photographer again, and has copyright.
I’ve also read through Lori’s post yesterday, and all of those comments, mostly by photographers, and I do understand where they come from. But honestly, if I google a little picture (not really a photograph) how on earth can I find out who “owns” it? Like a picture of a stack of books I use for my “new additions to my addiction” posts. Perhaps I will have to stack some of my own books and make a new picture.
At http://www.bookcrack.com we’ve been in the midst of a complete website redesign the month of July and this topic has come up A LOT. I for one am very thankful for Roni’s post and this one.
I’m of the I don’t want any “BUTs” or “IFs” hanging over me when it comes to this issue but I’m the resident worrier. Other folks in my crew here agree with Dana’s comment and feel as long as the photographer and the link back is there that’s fair use.
I’m removing things and replacing as I go, but the whole thing has my head hurting! Fortunately, we had all agreed not to man-candy up the site for this exact reason and we have an istock account. Our issue comes from the news releases and PR tid bits we used to do. I’m glad we’re all talking about it so we can do better moving forward. Now the whole Pinterest/FB thing? I edited and took ours down. Thanks for putting this out there.
I don’t *think* book covers, author photos, images you are using to promote a book – would be a problem. That is just my thought though.
I have this question but the original post has closed itself for comments.
My question is, if it’s not supposed to used by others, why is it available on Google Images? I know there are images out there from Stock Photo or Big Stock, or other places where you buy photos, and these photos that appear on Google Images have a watermark. If the photographer doesn’t want people using it, why not watermark it? It makes no sense. Google Images is a source accessible by everyone in the world and we are none the wiser. So, every photographer is going to sue now? I think that’s a flaw in the system. Isn’t it contradictory? If you could explain this to me, that would be great. :)
Google pretty much is an index to the visible web, when you do a search it pulls up everything in it’s index that matches your query. So if you allow your website to be found by a search engine it will show up in a search as will the information found on the website, that is why you get all these pictures in Google Images.
The owners of the image have little control over their content showing up on Google Images if they want their website visible. Which means that should take steps to protect their work.
You can search Google Images for work that is free to use to be safe.
I see, I guess that does make sense.
Google has a lot more information about how it searches and returns results, if you wanted to look into it more. It’s user friendly and they even have some videos that help explain more.
Thanks Amelia!
Dreamstime is another great site similar to the others listed in this post. http://www.dreamstime.com/
I guess I’ll have to break out the pencils and draw my own hot man titty to post.
Good to know I mainly post book covers, which seems to be okay.
I checked and we’re allowed to use Someecards but we have to link to it through the embed code they provide. Although, I assume that linking to them the regular was is fine. But just to be safe, from now on let’s use the embed code. I think LOLcats can be used as we like, same with MemeCenter…
Good points made, things I have never thought of yet are against the rules. Who knew! Thanks for sharing!
I’ve read a few posts on this now, and it is scary. I’ve taken down my “hottie” pics that were on my sidebar. I have not gone back and looked at posts where I may have created a button or used pictures that I grabbed from the web. I know I have some photos that may not be “common use” or free back one-two years ago. Now I only use “free clip art” and book covers. I understand the issues, and I don’t disagree with the concerns, but it appears that this case went too far for someone who removed the photo once asked. Between this and all of the GR drama, blogging is become a hazard. *sigh*