Using images from other sources. Legal issues.
Ok I'm making a website about Japanese history, in particular the Samurai and Samurai culture and i'd like to add images... obviously.
Any ideas what the legal/etiquete issues behind using other peoples images are? Obviously I'd never claim any as my own but is it ok to use say an image off another website as long as I give credit to said site. In which case would this be ok in the 'alt=""' atribute for the image or would it need to be a note below the image? Would just linking the image to the original site be acceptable (obviously not a link to the image on the website as that's just plain rude bandwidth stealage. I mean the image on my host but linked to the site)?
I guess I should ask permission from the site owner but it's not like my site would be anything major and certainly not commercial in any way shape or form.
Also is it ok to use say scanned images from books as long as the book/author is credited for the picture?
Cheers
Samji posted this at 18:56 — 28th January 2007.
He has: 9 posts
Joined: Dec 2006
A good place to find royalty-free content is Creative Commons.
It features options to search for CC-licenced content with a few popular search engines / web directories such as Google.
On a quick search for Samurai history I found:
Maybe not the best example, but you get the idea. Perhaps try Flicker.
Generally, speaking though use of content for educational or informative use qualifies as fair use under most international copyrights. So as long as you ask, if asked, to use content and credit authors if requested or out of courtesy - you shouldn't have any problems.
vbox pm reader - w.i.p
FrankR posted this at 19:18 — 28th January 2007.
He has: 45 posts
Joined: Oct 2006
You need to become familiar with various copyright laws and treaties. Looking through the Wikipedia policies are a great place to start. You might actually consider going to copyright course for authors at a local or university library. There is a lot of material to help you understand the rules. In general, you are not allowed to use other people's work or images without either an explicit license or a specific fair use exception.
When in doubt, do not use the images. Even if you do not get sued, you might get invoiced!
Frank
Author of SQL Converter for Excel, which is an Excel add-in for converting data to MySQL.
Megan posted this at 14:08 — 29th January 2007.
She has: 11,421 posts
Joined: Jun 1999
This is not true. When I worked in distance ed developing online courses we had to get permission for everything we used. There is a small distinction here - if a prof is using something in a powerpoint show for a course (not downloadable or share-able) it is fair use. If you are publishing something in a medium where it can be reproduced then you do need to get permission. Okay, I should say that this applies to Canada and the US, not necessarily the UK (although their laws are probably very similar)
That said, there are a few other issues for your particular project:
Asking and getting permisison all depends on who you are aksing. Firstly, you need to be asking the people who actually own the copyright and not somebody who took it from another website. Individuals and smaller groups or companies are usually fine with personal/educational use. Bigger companies will want you to pay. Government content is often free, except for some of the larger museums.
It is usually best ot credit the owner next to the image on the actual page rather than hiding it in an alt text. That's not really what the alt attribute is for anyway (it's an alternative for the image, not more descriptive information).
Megan
Connect with us on Facebook!
aka Rohan posted this at 08:53 — 30th January 2007.
He has: 200 posts
Joined: Feb 2006
Cool, thanks for the feedback guys, it's given some good info to work with
Want to join the discussion? Create an account or log in if you already have one. Joining is fast, free and painless! We’ll even whisk you back here when you’ve finished.