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Caution to writers who use online images

January 9th, 2008 · 4 Comments

As digital cameras become more affordable, writers are starting to supplement their written pieces with photographs. Those of you out there who take your own photos as well as those who use other people’s photos or images may want to read this Washington Post article.

And here’s a related thought-provoking article:

Copyright, fair use and the struggle against online image misappropriation

Tags: Writing biz: promo, legal and other issues

4 responses so far ↓

  • Harald // Jan 9, 2008 at 10:18 am

    A variation discussion Creative Commons licensing, but also goes into photo sharing in general:

    http://danheller.blogspot.com/2008/01/gaming-creative-commons-for-profit.html

  • Ninja-bot // Jan 9, 2008 at 10:39 am

    Regardless off the image’s copyright settings on Flickr, if people leave the “Blog This!” button on their images (removable in privacy settings on Flickr) then you’re allowing online writers/bloggers free reign to use your images.

    The upshot? You get an auto link-back when the feature is used.

    When in doubt, don’t publicly post high-res versions of your illustrations/photography, and don’t post your work in 300 phacking Flickr groups. It just turns into a circle jerking love fest with everyone putting dumb “You’re My Flickr Hero!” trophies in the comments anyways, which while it may give you a bang, doesn’t really further your work in any way, shape, or form.

    You can be sure any photos I consider for stock either doesn’t touch flickr, or only really small version that aren’t publicly searchable are made available.

  • Mari // Jan 10, 2008 at 3:57 pm

    Still, it makes you think. Nothing and no one is safe any more. Not really.

  • Katherine Huether // Jan 14, 2008 at 9:20 am

    I use public domain photos all the time - I don’t take much of my own. I try to pay attention to the rules, but thinking about this topic this morning has made me think about being extra careful. I just imagine how I’d feel if I let a photo go into the public domain, and someone didn’t follow my stipulations - I’d be upset!