Using pictures of celebs found online

Technically you have to obtain the rights to display the photos, especially if you're making money off the site.

You'll need to lookup local laws for where you live. It's different everywhere. The US declares everything copyrighted on sites unless otherwise stated. Some celebrities or their agencies offer up royalty free photos that sites can use without worry. Most reputable sites will have a page on their site saying how the images on their site may be used. When in doubt, ask the source.

TylerDurden130 said:

Ok thanks for the reply, it just seems that all the celebrity gossip sites all have the same pictures, didn't know how they got them.. do you have any links to the laws or ethic's code regarding this? I just want to cover myself since I'll probably sell advertising on my site eventually. thanks again

Click to expand...

In the case of those sites, a photographer sells the same photos to multiple sources. More often than not it's the photographer of the photos who holds the rights.

So if you were walking down the street I can snap a photo of you and put it on my site. I believe the exception is that I couldn't use your photo as an endorsement of a product i.e. "TylerDurden130 Loves Website XYZ!"