About a year and a half ago I went back through my old posts to make sure I didn't have any pictures inserted in them ....that WERE NOT mine. I had a few. I deleted them quickly as I was learning about NOT using animations, pictures, cartoons that were not mine. Obviously, it's stealing and I did not get permission to use them.
Just as I do in my Real Estate business, I do everything by the book and advertising (blogging) also has to be within our state laws for the Real Estate Industry as well. Blogging is fun and can be very rewarding if done correctly. We use our professional attitudes online as we do offline, we follow all the guidelines and rules, and we carry ourselves in high esteem to give information to the public and our peers.
......And we only use our OWN written words and pictures. If you can't write your own content or take your own pictures (or buy them) then reconsider your reasons for blogging.
Following are wonderful reads for those who are just plain stubborn with using pictures, photos, animations and anything you didn't create yourself or have permission to use:
- TLW (The Lovely Wife) wrote about If You Think It Can't Happen To You...You'd Be Wrong About That...ROAR! and copyright laws when it comes to PICTURES IN YOUR POSTS on your blog. Read why she and BB are very careful about what pictures they insert into their posts.
- PLAGIARISM, COPYRIGHT AND GOOGLE JUICE is one article of Lenn Harley'sthat IS a must read. One of the points Lenn states is: "Destain for the law. The copyright law doesn't apply to them or it only applies of they get caught and then only if the owner of the intellectual property is willing or able to enforce their copyright." (And this is Lenn's statement :)
- "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words? How About a Thousand Dollars?" Community Guidelines Re-Visited Rich Jacobson explains that ‘this guideline is extremely important, and will help to keep your hard-earmed money where it belongs and your butt out of court. It reads as follows: Respect copyrights. Only upload content/images that you have the right to use (what you have paid for or own), and whose copyright rules allow for commercial use.'
- Blog Photos: How to use images from the Internet and not get sued Kathy McGraw opens a group in Flickr where they use the ‘Creative Commons License' for people who truly want to share and allow commercial use. Check it out here: Foto Share Shop for Bloggers
- How NOT to steal pictures... and Mike Mueller tells us all how to NOT steal pictures and the reasons why. It really can cost you readership and a big old GONG!
My own personal experience was having a non profit group steal my Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle pictures from my post The MURDER of "Honey Girl" . I am most likely more understanding than others may be adn even then I was upset. After I gave him a brief lecture the man profusely apologized and asked if he could just give me credit for the pictures. I obliged but warned him about the costs he would incur in court should another person not take this ‘offense' so lightly. You can see my pictures proudly displayed......WITH MY PERMISSION......HERE>>>>>>http://www.honeygirlrewardfund.com
The majority of my photos are from around my neighborhoods and island (have some from other islands too) and are MINE. Other pictures that I use that are from my Print Shop Program and are allowed to a certain extent and I read the disclaimer (as should you for any software you purchase)
You can find these license agreements and copyright information on the HELP button with the programs you buy with clipart, photos etc. READ CAREFULLY because any of these programs have restrictions too.
It says I can use or make properties for use in home entertainment and projects, educational purposes, in advertisement, public or private presentations, business communications, multimedia presentations, and other similar uses. In other words, I can create posters, stationery, greeting cards, signs, invitations, calendars, reports, catalogs, brochures and newsletters.
What I AM NOT able to do is:
- Use any of the graphics containing trademarks or logos (i.e. cartoons that have a tradename or logo)
- Use pictures of people including in the picture library
- Resell or sub-license or distribute clip art collections, photo collections etc.
- Sell any item which is copied from...
- Use anything for my own logo etc. for my business
- Use anything to create immoral, obscene or scandalous work
Use any Property in electronic format, including on-line use, and multimedia applications, unless all of the following conditions are met: a) For viewing purposes only. b) They do not comprise a significant portion of the content of the proposed use. c) A notice is included specifying that they may not be saved or downloaded and are only to be used for viewing purposes. d) They are embedded at no higher than a base resolution of 512x768.
Bottom line....I don't use pics of people from this program and I don't sell anything I'm reprinting with their pictures...and all the pictures I'm using are for VIEWING ONLY! No one should be taking and downloading anything from anyone's blog or sites without permission!
So....does anyone have arguements about why it's okay to use other people's pictures, animations, cartoons and maps (that one was for Lenn :) without permission?
© 2009 Celeste "Sally" Cheeseman, All rights reserved! And that means my pictures too!
