Usage of copyrighted photos, and about Copyright and/or Royalty free

Here I will put a short list of some of the laws about the Image copyright and problem with them on internet

FULL COPYRIGHT FAQ About Images on Internet by the Arts and Humanities Data Service and the Technical Advisory Service for Images

http://www.ahds.ac.uk/copyrightfaq.htm

Photo Rights, Photographers' Rights,Copyright Information and Resources

Beyond just taking photographs, photographers need to know about the legal issues. While the legal issues vary greatly depending on circumstances and location, there is some basic information that everyone should know.

http://photography.about.com/od/copyr...ources.htm

THE SEVEN DEADLY MYTHS OF INTERNET COPYRIGHT by Attorney David L. Amkraut

http://webnet77.com/webstuff/copyright.html

The following is a summary of important information regarding the use and misuse of photos on the Internet.

10 BIG MYTHS ABOUT COPYRIGHT EXPLAINED

http://www.templetons.com/brad/copymyths.html

Note that this is an essay about copyright myths. It assumes you know at least what copyright is -- basically the legal exclusive right of the author of a creative work to control the copying of that work.

What pictures on the internet can I freely copy and use?

http://nealwalters.hubpages.com/hub/W...y-and-use-

How to Protect Your Digital Photos from Being Copied

http://webdesign.about.com/od/graphics/a/aa102406.htm

CfandM you have started this, so you have said it right

WHAT IS ROYALTY FREE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royalty-free

ROYALTY FREE DOES NOT MEAN that you can use it freely and that it does NOT HAVE COPYRIGHT.

Royalty free or copyright free? Are they the same?

http://www.publicdomainsherpa.com/royalty-free.html

Royalty free generally means that you pay a one-time fee in exchange for the right to use a photograph (or some other work protected by copyright, patent, or trademark) according to agreed upon terms, with no ongoing license fees due for further use. It does not mean that the work is copyright free. That’s a misconception.

Copyright free means just what it says — a copyright free work is not protected by copyright. While you might have to pay a fee to obtain a copy of the work, your use will not be restricted unless you’ve agreed that it will be (in an enforceable contract). The term “copyright free” is often used, mistakenly, where copyrighted works are licensed to the public for free ... but with some restrictions on use.

IS IT LEGAL TO USE IMAGES FOUND ON INTERNET ?

http://photo.stackexchange.com/questi...e-internet

CREATIVE COMMONS

"Creative Commons is a non-profit that offers an alternative to full copyright."

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/

USE FLICKR IMAGES CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE

Many Flickr users have chosen to offer their work under a Creative Commons license, and you can browse or search through content under each type of license.

You can search for images that have included this CC license, and you should respect this License conditions shown here

http://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/

MANY OTHER WEBSITES THAT HAVE FREE PHOTOS AND IMAGES WITH CREATIVE COMMONS LICENSE

http://www.freephotobank.org/main.php

FreePhotoBank is a free stock photo site. Feel free to download pictures (up to 2048 pixels, Creative Commons licence)

LIST OF 8 FREE PHOTOS WEBSITES

http://www.publicdomainsherpa.com/royalty-free.html

Please go in the page where you find this text below to find the list

Free photos, not royalty free photos

Since this web site is about public domain works I don’t want to go off on a tangent. (Well, not a very big tangent, anyway.) That said, here’s a short list of 8 free photo sites. Not royalty free — free. (But not copyright free. You got that, right?)

Quote
_________________________________________ How And Where To Find Legal Source Images _________________________________________

http://www.pxleyes.com/blog/2009/06/h...ce-images/

Finding legal sources for your contest entries is very important. “Googling” for images is not the way to go. Google only indexes the images, this does not mean they can be used for any purpose. You’ll have to verify on the original image page to see the license of the image.

Fortunately, there are plenty of websites where you can find quality royalty free stock photos to use in your entries. mymy – one of our moderators – decided to make some screenshots for the most important free stock photography sites. For each site, she will explain how to search these sites for good photos. She’ll also explain the licenses that come with the photos.

The following 4 websites are good places to get started (see them in the link above)

100 LEGAL SOURCES FOR FREE STOCK IMAGES

http://www.mlmsuccessmedia.com/resour...ck-images/

http://misternifty.com/creative/graph...ck-images/

Yep that was Carls post....

I haven't had a chance to read all the links. But I thought I'd mention that royalty free does not mean you are free to use it. It only means there are no royalties per use. So, for example, the creator could be requiring a one time payment for more than one use under conditions of the license.

Here is a free photo site: http://www.sxc.hu/. But you need to read the license of each one you use, because they are not all the same. The other issue is if it's a photo of a person. If so, then there is an issue about a signed a model release for use of the person's image.

SpaceRay, I think Carl has said it correctly.

Quote
by your posts in this thread suggest a naivety rather than a evil criminal mastermind

There are some basic rules about posting that I believe you are not aware of and that is okay. We all stumble at times and make blunders.

When you post picture with water makes on them, it gives the impression that you have lifted them without permission fr om others sites. It is always a better practice to use your own photos or photos from public domain sites like the ones you and others have posted. It's always better to be safe than sorry.

Also,if you are using it as an example, it is considered a better practice to include a link to the photo from another site than to download the photo itself. It's just as easy to post a link to another site as it is to upload the photo. Hot linking photos is a no-no as you are stealing bandwidth from the other site. This can get you (and possibly the forum) in trouble from sites that backtrack wh ere you have hot linked to. Photobucket or other site like that can host your images for free and it keeps you out of hot water.

Lastly, a STANDARD LICENSE AGREEMENT does not include the entire internet. These license are issued from millions of sites and you need to make contracts with every single one of them separately to insure you are following the rules.

I did not want, nor do I want this to turn into a battle. So please don't be angry at me as I just wanted you to take a look at some of the things you were posting and see how they looked to the rest of us. I want this to be a positive thing and make it a safer environment for all including you.

SpaceRay, I think it's a good idea to get all the relevant information in this thread, instead of having it scattered all over the forum. I also thank you for taking the time to do the google search for us, and including the links here in one place.

Nobody here should take any of the information here personally. It's important that we all learn how to do things the right way. We are all humans, we all make mistakes, we all need to learn for those mistakes.
To me, one of the great tings about FF is the community. The fact that people from all over the world can talk freely about a common interest, and help eachother is a dream come true. People here are helping out eachother creating and using filters, and also with things that are not FF related, like looking for a full frame DSLR camera

If politicians were like the people on this forum, I think wars would have been but a dark memory.

SpaceRay, I understand your reasoning about putting watermarked pictures on the forum, and I suppose I thought the same, that as long as the watermark is clearly visible, it's like free advertising to the companies who own the pictures. That this is a win win situation. And maybe it is, maybe the companies would love for us to use their photos on the forum, with the watermark. But we have to ask them.
I suppose we can write to those stock photo companies and ask them if we could use images from their site as examples for filters, while having the watermark and a link intact.

I myself don't know much about internet \ international law, nor about copyright laws.
Marday, you said to me "You really need to enlighten yourself on this issue. It is very important". You are most right, I shouldn't blabber about things I don't understand. It was just something I have heard from people in the past, and never thought of looking it up if it was true. One of the darker sides of the internet is how rumors spread like wildfire. One should always confirm things like that from a dependable source.

All in all, I think this thread taught us all important lessons, and it is good to have. Thanks to all of you for contributing to it.

You know that song "Money makes the world go 'round"?
Fact is, the law protects the ones who can afford a better lawyer (Or a higher bribe, in some parts of the world...).