In my haste to post Planning A Blog, I rushed to find free images to illustrate it and inadvertently used a photograph without permission or credit. I didn’t see the photographer’s name in the link, which is just about the same as running a red light.
A few days after the post was up, the photographer contacted me and sent me a bill for “release from liability of copyright infringement for unauthorised and uncredited” use of his image. I apologized and appealed, to no response. So I’ve paid the fee, and I’m writing this post both to make amends and to warn others not to make the same mistake, even unwittingly.
There are images available to use for little or no cost, and there are images that are owned by their creators. These artists deserve to be credited for their work and have the right to charge for it, and it is up to the user to find out and know. That would be me.
That said, the world of rights is confusing, and I don’t pretend to know all there is to know by a long shot, but here are some basic things you must know:
- There are free photos available online through Creative Commons, a non-profit organization “that enables the sharing and use of creativity and knowledge through free legal tools.” Creative Commons has rules about attribution and links; follow them.
- There are images in the public domain (i.e. out of copyright). Wikimedia is a good place to look, but you still have to check each image for its particular rules.
- There are services that stock Creative Commons photos and automatically upload credit and links to the images. Wylio has been recommended to me. $36 a year for the service is significantly less than paying a fine.
- There’s lots more to learn. Some of the sites where I found helpful information:
- Roni Lauren’s BlogHer, Blogger Beware
- Jeff Haden’s Inc. Where to Find Free Stock Photos Online
- WordPress’s tutorial, wpbeginner: how to find royalty free images for your wordpress blog posts.
My advice for all bloggers:
- Schedule the time to ask permission and/or to find available images before rushing your post online (i.e. Don’t speed.)
- Take your own photos.
I’m not the first person in the world this has ever happened to, nor am I likely to be the last. I hope this post will prevent others from using images without permission and help artists receive full credit for their work.
Comments?
M. Shafer, Photo
As part of her practice of Restorative Justice, Deborah Lee Luskin takes full responsibility for her wrongdoing and hopes this helps make amends.
Live to Write - Write to Live 
Reblogged this on Roshan click's and commented:
Next time, if i find my images being used without my consent; instead of asking to take it down, i am going to send an invoice. See what Deborah Lee went through, and she was invoiced.
Please respect photographers and their art.
With Love
Roshan
Good advice! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Reblogged this on Wendy Anne Darling and commented:
VERY good advice and a warning from Deborah Lee Luskin… be extremely careful when posting somebody else’s images! Use creative commons images, your own images, or pay for them. The image creators have the rights to their work unless they choose to make them available for free or for being given credit for their work and they can, and may, sue you for using it without permission! Try doing your own work and pay it forward by contributing free images to creative commons sites. People will love your for it and allowing others to use your work as long as they credit you will also help get your name out there!
Well….just think about your own work before you post something that isn’t 100 percent yours…that’s what I do. If I can’t contact the owner to ask, I won’t use it. I figure it’s just not meant to be 🙂
Thank you for this post!
Here’s a source I use for images: https://www.dollarphotoclub.com/ – there are 2 licenses types available for most images.
At least 4 website versions in my past I had an image that a company wanted money for. I took the image down and did not pay. My lesson – ask/check/get in writing from people who work for you that they own the rights to use the images on your behalf in the format being used.
Free Range Stock has great, free photos…PicMonkey is the easiest, user friendly site to update, improve, crop, resize and enhance color and clarity. And! They have a passel of fun Halloween decor and effects. Try both – your will thank me.
This was new to me as of last year when I read another similar post. I was grateful then for the knowledge and I am now. Thanks for the reminder and the links.
As both a photographer and a writer, thanks for sharing your experience with everyone. It really does suck when I find either used on another site without permission. I’m always happy to let someone use it if they ask but think I’m going with the option of sending them a bill the next time I catch it.
Reblogged this on Casting silver sparkle dust.
I find doing images for each post as time consuming as the post itself. Proceed with caution.
Reblogged this on Write. Think. Do. and commented:
A very good post, with a valid point. Many bloggers forget that just because a photo is available on Google Images does not make it free of copyright. I myself have been guilty of this before as well. Just something to ponder.
I am glad you wrote this post. I needed to read this.
I have wondered about this….When I do an image search, I go into advanced search and have them only display images that are “free to use and share.” Is that enough? It often occurs to me that *someone* took or owns that image.
Thanks for this, it confirms my paranoia in using any stock images, as I have never worked out the fine print and if using it once relates to a blog post so being so new to blogging I have only ever used my own photos or what I have created… But I might take a look at some of those links if I can’t get the right shot.
CANVA is now my go-to source of creating blog photos. If I use one of their pictures, it is only $1
Using your own images is not the easy way it sounds. You can easily infringe an architect’s rights or an artist’s rights if the bulk of your photograph contains their building, statue, etc.
Great advice! Thanks for sharing your experience.
This is very important advice especially for bloggers (we always need good photos!). Thanks for all of this great info; will be even more careful in the future!
wow
Thanks for the advice. It’s a legal minefield out there so we need to be careful.
Reblogged this on Reticent Mental Property and commented:
Good reminders. And good sources for usable photos included.
I use a lot of my own photographs, but also use Pixabay free photographs that have been uploaded by others. They always say no attribution needed and can be used commercially. Am i on safe ground here???
Reblogged this on SoLauraBarker and commented:
I just went to a workshop on this very subject at the Surrey International Writers Conference. It seems many authors are using photos without permission (me included) not knowing we could be sued for it! Luckily there are Creative Commons sites where photos are shared legally by the artists.
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Reblogged this on Study. Read. Write. and commented:
What you need to know about Image Copyrights
Good suggestions. I’ve been worried about copyright issues since I started blogging. I generally use my own photos or images from FreeDigitalPhotos.net, but I’m going to try the sites you mentioned as well.
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Great post! Very useful info. I have heard of Creative Commons before, but have not checked it out. Now I will. Thanks.
Hi Ron, I’m glad you found it useful – and hope you’re more careful than I was! Thanks for your comment.
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