Photo Copyright – When are Photos free to use?
I first became aware of photo copyright when I ran an msn group. There was a lot of debating about people typing Pooh Bear into Google, images popping up that it was assumed were free to use, not occurring to anyone that there were any photo copyright issues. There were arguments about people stealing the images from one msn group to another, and eventually it came out that the photo copyright actually belonged to Disney – they were not free to use and only Disney could really complain about the use of the images.
I honestly think it is a common mistake to make. I think people aren’t clear by what they can and can’t do. They are oblivious to the photo copyright laws/rules. People have different opinions on the subject of photos but here are mine.
When do you have Photo Copyright
You can only use photos if you have actually taken them yourself (or have drawn/made them from scratch) or have permission from the person who has taken the photo. Then there are exceptions such as you can’t take images of copyrighted things and then use them as yours – they still have photo copyright on them – or for example things you see on television – as they have the copyright. Apart from direct authorisation from the photographer and when the photos are free-to-use (be careful where you take them from and it is good practise to link back to the source). This includes photos of yourself and your children – they belong to the photographer not you. Also there is no law stopping people taking photos of you in a public place, unless you can prove that they are doing something illegal with them.
Photo Copyright and Social Media
Google images are not the place to look for free-to-use images.. The use of Pinterest has clouded the issue – but I personally take it that if someone is displaying a Pinterest badge they want me to share their image (with a link back) and I always state that I will remove them as soon as contacted if this is not okay. I also let the person know that I have featured their image.
You do not need to state on your blog that the images are copyrighted to you – although it may help your case if you took it to court. Sorry but chances are you are not going to take it to court, as it would cost more than it’s worth. In saying that, the above stands and it is not legal, ok, right, you do not need to get your photos copyrighted to stop people taking them. Besides it is just wrong.
Don’t assume that just because a PR agency has sent you images to use that you can then help yourself to other, similar, images – stick to the ones that you have been given express permission.
What to do when you own the Photo Copyright
Whether you mark your photos or not is a matter of preference. Some people say that photos are less likely to be pinned if marked. I personally brand my photos, it tells people they are mine, makes them less likely to be passed off as someone else’s (yes people take photos of people’s lives and pretend to be them, I’ve have seen these trolls during my time online). It also means people think of me, get a feel of who I am, a reminder – a Brand I simply paste on my image to the photo – simple. I used to watermark too. Yes they can be removed, but not everyone knows how to do that, and it takes time. So if someone wanted to “steal” and image to use they wouldn’t be taking mine for that reason.
I’ve just discovered that if you type in a description in the alt codes then it is better picked up by SEO – this is useful if you want people to find your post. do, however, be aware that people are searching images to use those images (as mentioned at the start of this post, they probably don’t realise they can’t). This is where if you put a sign up clearly on your blog then they may realise that you don’t want them taken, they may still take them though as not everyone has high morals.
Please note these are just MY opinions on how things are, I am by no means a professional.
This is not a sponsored post.
Hiya hun. How do I watermark or brand? I only have paint.
I don’t use paint but I imagine even if you wrote your blog name in small writing in the corner. Will look to see if you can do anything more fancy. I believe there’s apps on phones that do it too.
Pic Monkey is a great website to use for labeling and watermarking your photos! It’s free (you can subscribe to get more options, but I managed without it for quite some time) and they have the best overlays and all sorts of fun frames and such. It won’t stop someone from stealing an image if they really want to, but it helps!
its interesting actually because there is a law protecting the images of (in particular) professional photographers. If a company, say, want to use an image they have to at the moment, by law, make ‘every attempt’ to find the owner of that image and get permission or pay for the use of the image. They are currently reviewing throwing this law out which as you can imagine is upsetting a lot of people who make their living from their images, meaning that there is little protection for images that are out there and not watermarked. I suppose regardless of the law, image theft is always going to happen and with the speed of social media sharing it is in some ways impossible to stop. A professional friend of mine is often having his images shared and stole. he uses a watermark. but one image in particular got shared on FB by a celebrity and that was it..he spent the best part of a week trying to chase the image down and leave comments saying that those sharing it were breaking copyright laws..but the first person who shared it had cropped his watermark off the bottom. In the end he had to give up and was resigned to the fact that image had gone and he had no control over it. I think it was shared over 60,000 times. I guess it just goes to show how this social media thing can take off and no-one can stop it!! Great post Joy 🙂
That is awful – is there anywhere for people to sign up to oppose the change do you know?
It’s worth mentioning also that some creative commons photos (not copyrighted) come with restrictions, such as you cannot alter the image.
And to add to your comment on using images sent by PR’s… Always always ask the PR if they own the copyright to the photos. Mote often than not, they don’t. PR’s and SEO’s take images from google and just assume they are creative commons. If you then publish them, it is you who gets sued – not the agent.
Thank you I hadn’t even considered that they would do that. I generally stick to my own images if I can anyway.
This comment has me worried Emma. I just assumed prs etc would have the right to the photos they email to us.
I have signed up to some of the bigger business press agencies such as John Lewis as they then issue press specific phtoto’s that you’re licensed to use. I’m very careful to check and label accordingly. If in doubt, don’t use would be my motto.
I found this out some while ago now via one of the blogging groups. I was in 2 minds about all the photos I’d used in the past and in the end left them, but obviously would remove them if asked. Sometimes you can’t find who owns an image as it’s been so widely used for so long and then I’m not sure what to do.
I now use 123RF for royalty free images, some are free some have a small initial use fee. But they explain all about image use too so it’s helpful as it can vary whether you use pictures online or in print etc.
It’s a good post and I’m trying to explain it all to DD who has started blogging and has teachers that tell children to ‘find a picture on the internet’ ….
You know I hadn’t even thought about that – but think there’s different rules if it’s for educational non-profit reasons
I am now completely paranoid about this, and am slowly trawling through old blog posts and deleting every image that is not mine, even those I took from creative commons.
It is a shame though – all those lovely posts about hunky pin ups etc have had to go!!!!
I know what you mean there.
What a clever blog post.
I wonder if you could help me do w watermark I am a techno phone
What are you using to take/edit your images?
I mostly use my own photos but without a watermark at present. If I don’t know the source of any other image or illustration I note on the caption which website it came from. I’ve only had one of my photos used without my permission to my knowledge but maybe a small symbol would be useful. Something else to think about! Good post 🙂
This is very interesting I tend to use my own and flickr creative commons
I think it depends on the photo and what it’s been used for – but it’s awful when you find someone posing as you and pretending your family belongs to them. Thank you :O)
You are right that naivety is not an excuse any more. I always use sites like freedigitalphotos.net if I don’t have one of my own!
Some fantastic information honey, I think there is a lot of misconception and this post clears up a lot, thanks for sharing x
Great post, I always try to use my own photos as I am so paranoid about this 🙂
after rereading another post about this (on Tots100) I went through my blog last night and deleted all the pics that I had just randomly borrowed (except the one of Brian Blessed as he seemed to approve of that!)
I should have realised there was a tots post I will find it and link it up
This is so helpful – I’ve been blogging for a couple of years now and still get a bit paranoid so credit a lot and try not to steal anything from anywhere.
the problem is that crediting is not enough, you have to have actual permission. 🙁
Such a helpful post with lots of great info. I have started to copyright my photos but keep forgetting because I haven’t done it from the outset!! Thanks for linking to PoCoLo x
Good post, and really helpful for anyone just starting out, or who’s never really heard about some of this information before.
I always try and use my own photos then I have nothing to worry about. I debate adding my blogname to them, but that adds even more time and I’ve so little time in the first place for blogging, it’s right at the bottom of my list.
Yes it is time consuming. I think image is the most important thing people see on a post though so do tend to be editing pictures anyway (not that you can tell as I’m not very good at it).
Ohh I remember the copyrighting ho ha in MSN groups…..Especially those one’s who made signature tags….
Very interesting to read!
I found this really interesting an informative. Will refer to this post as/when I use others photos 😉 #PoCoLo
Very clear. No more head in the sand on this. Thanks to pinkoddy and others for tips on sites with free to use photos.
Good post.! I use only my own photos and CC photos that are copyright free commercially. I can also recommend two sites. Photo Pin allows you to search for CC pictures easily, gives you details of the CC (Creative Common) Rights and the HTML code to paste in your post about the CC rights. Another free easy way to put on a watermark iis with iPiccy. If you need instructions or more background info then Blogging with Amy has really helpful tutorials on both of these sites.
A really great post Joy that covers a lot. I only use my own photos now, buy them or get permission. The grey area for me is if someone stole my photos without permission 🙂
This is a really useful post – so much confusion
I very rarely use anyone else’s photos – too scared to fall foul of the law. This week I used photos sent to me by the company in order to do a review but otherwise it’s just my own wobbly efforts!
Very useful to bring this topic up.
If you do need to find an image that you don’t have yourself, Creative Commons is a great tool to use to search for DRM-free images, and the photos on Wikipedia are also Open Source, too.
such a touchy subject for those who don’t care about the images the use…basically the owner is the one who made/designed/photographed it etc, same as cakes but you cant or not supposed to copy Disney characters for example without their permission and they will say no if your attempting to make money out of the them as they own the creative license x
Really useful, thank you. I really need to watermark my photos, it’s on the list!
Very good explanation about a very important issue that not a lot of people are aware of. I try to only use my own photos in my posts, to eliminate any issue I might have with copyrights (the only instance in which my photo obsession is a good thing), but I still have no control of what happens with my photos afterwards. So I think it is great that as many people as possible knows and understands the meaning and implications.
Great post. I’ve been on the other side of this, where my photos have been used. I didn’t mind when I found my photos on other blogs, which credited it back. Then I started to find them on commercial sites. There is one farm shop selling on line that use my meringues as examples of their produce, which seems a tad dishonest. Same with bath bombs. Bizarely a photo of our muddy boots is very popular to promote businesses. Don’t ask. I’ve given up trying to understand. The worst thing to do is to search. I’ve added measures to put people off taking images now. I feel strongly that there are professional photographers that make their living selling photos and I don’t want them to miss out on a sale, because I’ve left my photos so open.
Wow, so many comments…. I need to find out about cc and bookmark some rf sites.
This is really clear and helpful. I do prefer to use my own photos when i can, it just makes it simpler.
Really useful post! To date I’ve only used my own images, but the info on CC images is really useful. Watermarking also on my to do list 🙂
Great post, I was very naive to these things when I started blogging!
I try to just use my own images online. Seems the safest way.