Do not steal images or how to know when you are stealing images and why you need to question what you are doing
Francis Vachon a photographer in Quebec Canada asked a question on his post “10 bogus excuses that people use when they steal a photo from the Internet”
If you see an unattended bike in a park, would you decide not to steal it because your fear of getting caught or because you know it is morally wrong?
Not long ago I was following a conversation and a person was teaching a new comer about images and how it is important to have images on blog posts or social media posts as images play an important role in having our thoughts being shared by others ( something that I agree with by the way)
Unfortunately the person didn’t go far enough in talking to that newcomer about knowing the rules of sharing images, how to know which images you can use and where you can find images that are legal to use.
Even though many people have talked about copyright issues and images, there are still many people who feel that when you see an image they have a finders keepers mentality and what’s the big deal! The big deal is that ..it is wrong to take anything that does not belong to you even if it ” on the internet”
Do Not steal image tip
Just because you attribute an image does not make that image legal to use!
Normally everyone and their mother will say to you.. do a shout out, link back to the person who took that image and everything will be fine.
The problem is , the person who took that image has the full power of the law on their side and even though you may think that it is okay to share that image, the photographer may say no, I dont want you to use my image and that is their right.
How do you get around this? Simple ask the photographer if it is okay and then respect what they say to you.
Curtis Newbold, The Visual Communication Guy create an awesome and easy to follow chart talking about images in terms of copyright, fair use, creative commons, and public domain.
If you take the sign “Do not steal images” seriously, then this is a chart that you should keep handy and refer to often.
Do Not Steal Image Tip 2
Learn how to use the filters on the Google image search as well as the Bing Image search to find images that are free to use.
When you do a Google Search, you can filter your results to find images, videos, or text that you have permission to use. To do this, you’ll use an Advanced Search filter called “usage rights” that lets you know when you can use, share, or modify something you find online.
There is a copyright license filter built into the Bing Image search that allows you to filter images by Creative Commons License. The images are free to use according to the terms of each license. This new feature incorporates Flickr and many other image sources. Text Source
Of Course there are good sites where you can get free images, but as with anything you do,read the licence to be sure you can use the image in the way you want.
Here is a short list of these sites for you to explore.
Kaboompics~ Several different categories of photos, updated daily.
StockSnap ~ Awesome search function with hundreds of hi-res images added weekly.
Free Nature Stock ~ Stock photos of nature only, updated daily.
Pixabay ~ Over 320,000 free photos, vectors and art illustrations.
Jay Mantri ~ Beautiful landscape photography. 7 new images added every Thursday.
SplitShire ~ Free photos with no copyright restrictions.
Life of Pix ~ High-quality, public domain images with no copyright restrictions.
If you are wanting a HUGE list of image resources then I highly suggest you bookmark ~Free Stock Photos: 73 Best Sites To Find Awesome Free Images. It is an easy to read list with its own star ratings to help give you an idea of what you will find on any given site.
- Top Reverse Image Search Engines and Websites: Google, TinyEye and Others 2016 (n4bb.com)
- Image Search and Trends in Google Search Using FreeBase Entity Numbers (seobythesea.com)
- 10 Top Stock Photo Sites for Sprucing Up Content (meetingburner.com)
- Want to access some free images that don’t risk copyright issues?
- Web Photo Rules: Copyright Fair Use For Web Images
- The Best Ways to Be Sure You’re Legally Using Online Photos
- 12 Most Picture Perfect Ways To Ensure You’re Legally Using Online Photos
Great article, Diane. It’s really annoying to have someone just steal your photos.
Thanks Dave and good to see you again.
One of the reasons as to why I wrote about this issue is that many folks who are wanting to share images to be social need to be aware of these issues.
Many people just dont understand that there are laws in place and they need to be aware of how to do things ..to keep them out of trouble.
Diane (Blogneta) recently posted…Do Not Steal Images