Where do you find your blog pictures? | Bloggers Lair | Yakezie Forums

Matt76Allen said:

I recently came across this at the bottom of somebody's blog, right next to (or part of) their copyright statement:

 

We claim no credit for any images featured on this site unless otherwise noted. All visual content is owned by its respectful owners. If you own rights to any of the images, and do not wish them to appear here, please contact us and they will be promptly removed.

 

I don't know, but I'm assuming this means they just took random pictures from the internet and posted them on their site. I admit, I've done the same, but I always give credit to the site I found the picture on.

To me their disclaimer is kind of like admitting they know they don't have the rights to use the images, but are going to go ahead and do it anyway so long as no one complains.  Also, giving credit is not enough, unless the images are using Creative Commons and have specified that that's what's required.

To answer the original question, I either use my own photos or istockphoto.

AmericanDebtProject said:

Matt, I wonder if their little disclaimer actually protects them from anything?  I've got it on my to-do list that I need to go back and clean up all my old posts since traffic is starting to pick up.  I always give credit if its from flickr or a blog, but I think I've skipped a few.  

I don't claim to know all of the legalities when it comes to using images found on the internet.  I sometimes just do a Google search for images related to my post.  If I find one I want to use, I save it to my hard-drive, then upload it.  I always credit the site it came from in the 'caption' of the pic.

I also wondered if that disclaimer I found really protected the owner of that site.  It seems to have worked for them so far though.  There are tons of pictures on the site and they have an Alexa rank around 70k.  What are we trying to be protected from anyway?  Does anybody really think that they are going to be sued for using somebody else's picture that was found on the world wide web?  If people didn't want their pictures used, they shouldn't be putting them out there.  I understand that it would be frowned upon to try to profit directly using somebody else's images, but using them as a prop to support your writing doesn't qualify (I don't think).  As long as credit is given, I don't see the big deal.  These are just my opinions, or course, and might get me into trouble one day.

I've used WPClipArt a few times.  It has a decent collection of public domain images.

Another option is hit your creative side.  I've used portions of .pdf docs, do a print screen and paste it in MS Paint.  Then cut and crop the image down to the size I needed.  I've done it with a couple IRS documents i.e. 1040-EZ, 8829 form for tax related topics.

Post edited 1:36 pm – January 7, 2012 by Jackie

Matt76Allen said:

I also wondered if that disclaimer I found really protected the owner of that site.  It seems to have worked for them so far though.  There are tons of pictures on the site and they have an Alexa rank around 70k.  What are we trying to be protected from anyway?  Does anybody really think that they are going to be sued for using somebody else's picture that was found on the world wide web?  If people didn't want their pictures used, they shouldn't be putting them out there.  I understand that it would be frowned upon to try to profit directly using somebody else's images, but using them as a prop to support your writing doesn't qualify (I don't think).  As long as credit is given, I don't see the big deal.  These are just my opinions, or course, and might get me into trouble one day.

I couldn't disagree with you more, especially on the "If people didn't want their pictures used, they shouldn't be putting them out there" part….

By your theory, I shouldn't put any of the photos I've taken on my blog to illustrate something unless I want complete strangers using them without my permission?  That makes no sense. Better, I think, for people just not to steal.

Presumably you're putting photos on in your blog posts because you think they are more appealing with them. Which means that you are using someone else's work to improve your own.  (What if someone took your blog posts and used them to accompany their photos and they gave you credit. Would you feel that your writing was being stolen?)

I do personally know of someone who was sued (and had to pay damages) for using photos they found on the web on a web site.

I had honestly never even heard the term "creative commons" before I read this thread.  In the process of cleaning up my post pics now and making sure everything is legal.  Luckily, this blog is only a few months old, and I only recall a handful of questionable pics that I used.  Flickr – creative commons from now on!  Thanks to whoever started this thread!

I've been using iStocPhoto for images – you have to pay for the right to use them but you can get most images pretty cheap (less than $10) – I think it's worth it.

I use the PhotoDropper plugin for Wordpress. You search for CCL images within the dashboard, and drop them into your posts, along with an automatic attribution link wherever you choose. It's a doddle.

ObjectiveWealth said:

I use the PhotoDropper plugin for Wordpress. You search for CCL images within the dashboard, and drop them into your posts, along with an automatic attribution link wherever you choose. It's a doddle.

Thanks for this tip. I'm working on using it right now. How does the automatic attribution link work? I'm trying to find it, but haven't been able to do so.