Is it common practice to take photos off blogs to use in one's own blog?
-
I need clarification. Is it acceptable to take photos from other blogs to use on one’s blog? Without asking for permission? Without citing the person’s name? Simply by linking to the blog post where the photos were taken from?
The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)
-
Hi there,
It’s against the law in the United States and in many other countries to reproduce text or images created by someone else without their permission, even if you provide a citation. To be on the safe side, make sure that you request permission before publishing anything on your blog that was created by someone else.
Here’s some information about Fair Use from the U.S. Copyright Office:
http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html
And here are some tips on finding free and fair use images:
http://en.support.wordpress.com/add-media/finding-free-images-and-other-media/
Please let me know if I can be of any further help!
-
Thank you for the helpful information!
It’s just that yesterday I got “pinged” by someone who used four of my photos without permission, and he got angry at me for asking that he remove them. Moreover, he commented that he’d done that a hundred times over the past four-plus years and that anything on the internet is fair game, blah, blah, blah. Then, since I didn’t buy into his “game,” he “banned” me from his blog, which was fine.
I wasn’t going to persist in senseless babbling. Besides, I don’t even follow his blog.
Afterwards I revisited WordPress pages with lots of good information and then went online to find more. Anything to feel better.
Thanks so much for responding today. I really and truly appreciate it!
-
I’m sorry that happened to you! That can be really frustrating. He is in fact completely wrong. Just because something is posted on the internet does not make it “fair game”.
You are completely in the right asking him to remove your photos from his site.
Let me know if I can help you with anything else!
-
Do you know how good it is just to have your listening ear?
I was so upset yesterday! The man was condescending, even calling me “darling,” saying that I should be thanking him for the “spike” in traffic to my blog. But I felt ill, totally wiped out, knowing there was nothing I could do because my “please remove” comment hadn’t touched his sense of justice.
Then I recalled one of the professional photographers whose blog I follow. He’s had his photos taken for profit. Whoa! Pretty bad! Way worse than what happened to me yesterday.
Still, I was left trying to make sense of the whole situation, even telling my husband that maybe I should just give up blogging. But he said to think about all the wonderful people in the WordPress realm whose work I value. “Things like this happen, and you feel terrible; but look at what you all accomplish. Not everyone is out to take advantage. And you’ve met a lot of really nice folks through WordPress, so don’t take your toys and go home just because something went wrong. Don’t give up.”
He’s right, you know. I love WordPress and its “happiness engineers” and everyone who makes blogging so much fun.
Thank you for caring. It’s so part of who and what y’all are! I’m so glad that, when things go bump in the night, you’re there for us.
Kudos to you, Shawna! You rock!
-
That’s what we’re here for! I’m so glad I could offer you some comfort. It can be so disappointing when something like this happens. But we’ve got your back!
And definitely keep blogging! That’s how you spread light to the dark corners of the internet. :)
- The topic ‘Is it common practice to take photos off blogs to use in one's own blog?’ is closed to new replies.
WordPress.com Forums 