Forum Moderators: not2easy
say Joe blogs posts an image of his carrots on a webforum with no ref to any copyright and I download the image remove the background and add it as the title image of carrots.com can Joe sue the pants off me or am I safe?
Cheers all
The fact that there is no copyright reference or declaration doesn't absolve you of the responsibility to ascertain the rights associated with the work before using the work for an alternate purpose (i.e. other than the purpose of "viewing" in the web forum).
Cheers for your help :)
Never assume you can just use an image or other work. ASK. It won't kill ya! :)
what it is I took serveral photos posted on a forum I did ask permission fromall of them one is saying I didn't in the end I used 2 one of which has posted in the topic saying I asked his permission the other saying I haven't now theres a load of them all joining in the discussion likening me to some multi million pound frauster its a picture of a somones hermit crab in there fishtank at home. It has bothered me alot as I am certian I asked permission first and have done alot to help and support the forum in question.
If you don't have written permission from the owner of the image then you could have problems. I deal with photogs all the time, and the general rule is always get a written release.
so if i nipped out back and took a photo of my grass close up then posted it on a forum and you downloaded it and used it on your website I could sue you in the UK not US :¬)
It's no nightmare - it just means you can't use the work of others without permission. Similarly, nobody can use your original work, either.
I've had images (and bandwidth) stolen from my web site by people that use my images in their webforum posts.
When they steal bandwidth by linking directly to the image's location on my web site, that's annoying, but at least you can somewhat track down the thief.
Some people just move or rename the image. And I've seen people (who have ISPs that don't ban adult images) replace the original image with something, shall we say, less appropriate for the webforum they are being posted in.
Or, if you have a poster in a pro-gun forum, you change the image to something anti-gun, or vice versa. It generally wakes up the thief sooner or later.
Myself, I don't do that. Instead, I have a huge graphic (something like 350 pixels by 350 pixels) with a notice that the image was stolen by my company and that we sell widgets and if you'd like to buy some widgets, visit our web site. So, basically, I turn it into an ad.
If the webforum is active, you get some free advertising and, usually, the webforum host or poster will eventually stop linking to your graphic.
Okay, so I guess I steered off-course, but, the lesson is that you cannot assume an image belongs to the person using it. Too many people have absolutely no respect for IP rights or other people's bandwidth usage.
1. Somebody has the copyright to anything that is published in a "fixed form". A photo posted on the web would count, though it may not be the poster who holds copyright. According to the Berne Convention, nobody has to apply, though you have some additional rights in the US if you have registered the copyright.
2. If someone gives you verbal permission and then revokes it, you have to cease and desist.
3. If someone gives you written permission, it should specifically say which uses are covered. If you use it in a way not covered by the agreement, the person can ask you to stop doing so.
4. When asking permission, be sure to ask whether or not the person you are asking holds copyright.
Tom
be sure to ask whether or not the person you are asking holds copyright
That's a great point, ergophobe. There's a natural assumption that if you find a photo (or written content) on a site that the site owner holds the copyright. In fact, though, the content may have been borrowed from someplace else (with or without permission) or it may be on the site legally but with restriction, e.g., a license for one-time use was purchased.
I have quite a few of those. Usually, they accompany articles from magazines that we've ported to the website and offer a promotional link to the magazine/writer/photographer in return for the use. The requests get annoying, particularly when it's someone paid to research photos for an upcoming book or CD. They always tout how much benefit it'll be to have my website seen on their up-coming project (yeah, right). I now tell the photographer that I'm going to decline on his behalf and save him some work unless I feel the project has real potential.
