using photos from websites

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  beautifullifeandstyle · Member · Nov 10, 2011 at 10:43 pm

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  Is it ok to use photos from other websites if you give proper credit? I understand the idea of pulling photos from a blogger’s personal photography without credit/permission is stealing- but what about a online store?
  What if you are talking about a certain artist, architect or fashion designer- can you put photos from their website on your blog if you link to them?
  I’m new to blogging and haven’t seen enough blogs to know all the rules. I’ve seen a lot of varying opinions out there and would love to know what is the right thing to do.

  The blog I need help with is: (visible only to logged in users)

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  timethief · Member · Nov 10, 2011 at 11:06 pm

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  Is it ok to use photos from other websites if you give proper credit?

  No. Unless you have permission in advance from the copyright holder to use an image, then using it without permission is a copyright violation. If you want to be safe then you can use Zemanta. You will also find that I have 70 sources of free images on this page and there are many others. make sure you read the Terms of Use on each site and comply with them.
  Related post: Copyright and Public Domain

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  timethief · Member · Nov 10, 2011 at 11:07 pm

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  oops! I forgot to include the Zemanta link

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  beautifullifeandstyle · Member · Nov 10, 2011 at 11:16 pm

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  so even if I want to an amazon.com item lets say by showing a photo and linking to amazon.com .. that would be illegal?

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  timethief · Member · Nov 10, 2011 at 11:20 pm

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  Succinctly stated whether or not the author of any original digital work has posted a copyright notice on their site or the work itself is irrelevant. It does not change the fact that they hold the copyright to their works and it cannot be re-published unless or until their permission has been given. Here’s a relevant link for you: Copyright Basics (from the U.S. Copyright Office and the Library of Congress) PDF

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  klsbear · Member · Nov 12, 2011 at 4:04 am

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  Regarding WP blogs found using stolen photos (my stock photo with watermarks), does WP have a contact point where we can report violations and submit DMCA letters? The stock site has already sent one on my behalf and it’s being ignored by the blogger. It’s a site promoting their commercial enterprise with several stolen photos and I’d like to report them.

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  airodyssey · Member · Nov 12, 2011 at 4:05 am

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  @klsbear: If the blog is hosted by WordPress.com (which is not the same as merely using WordPress software), you can follow the instructions here: http://automattic.com/dmca/