Using Website Photos

[I AM THE MAN]

Hey everyone. This might seem like an odd question but I have a Photography website (where people submit photos, etc). Would it be "wrong" or "illegal" if I use these photos on my website (including the fact that I change the resolutions [i.e. bring a 4000x3000 image to 2560x1440]) but I do include where I've gotten these Photos from (with a hyperlink to the website).

Is this possible to do or would I still need to ask for permission?

Thanks for your help and answers in advance.

 

[mackmgg]

You should always ask permission. The person who shot the photo owns the copyright, and if they don't license it to you, you can't use the photo. Plus, you shouldn't use someone's photos if they don't want you to regardless of copyright.

 

[Apple OC]

just have a disclaimer like FaceBook does ... every photo ever posted to FB belongs to FaceBook.

 

[Vudoo]

Even if you have a disclaimer, you have to prove that the photographier was the one who posted it.

If I post a Getty photo on FaceBook, does that mean FaceBook now owns that photo? No, they don't.

I have my name and copyright embedded in every photo I take on my DSLR. So if someone were to use it, I can prove that it's mine. And even if they strip the meta tag, I still have the original to prove ownership.

My advice is to ask for permission.

 

[TheReef]

just have a disclaimer like FaceBook does ... every photo ever posted to FB belongs to FaceBook.

They don't belong to Facebook, you grant them a licence to your content, when you remove the photos the license ends.

For content that is covered by intellectual property rights, like photos and videos (IP content), you specifically give us the following permission, subject to your privacy and application settings: you grant us a non-exclusive, transferable, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to use any IP content that you post on or in connection with Facebook (IP License). This IP License ends when you delete your IP content or your account unless your content has been shared with others, and they have not deleted it.

 

[arogge]

Confusing wording

You have a Website, but the content belongs to other people? Does this mean that you are acting like a photo host? Do you have established contracts with these other content providers? If not, then using anyone else's work could be a copyright violation, worse if you are doing so prominently. Exceptions can be made, but if you've redistributed someone's work that came from someone else's camera, the general answer is to stop what you're doing and get an agreement from the photographer before proceeding further.

Saying things like "Credit: Some Guy at www.whatever" doesn't grant you the right to redistribute someone's work. My gallery is very hard about that, and I had to strip several old images out because I didn't have an explicit agreement in verbal or written form. Implied consent from a family member was not enough for the third-party images to be accepted, even if the person used my camera and I did the processing. The person has to say or write something that can be interpreted as a transfer of copyright ownership, or the image doesn't get accepted.

You really cross into a trouble zone if "use" means commercial use. Be careful about what commercial use means. It doesn't mean selling prints or otherwise making money for personal or business profit, for which you could be sued for any money made from the sale of someone else's work. Commercial use occurs when you use an image to endorse or otherwise advertise a product, which could include your own business or a corporate product. Misuse of an image during an act of commercial use is a debilitating lawsuit waiting to happen. Such a lawsuit can cover both money earned and your legal liability for misuse, to include misrepresentation of a person or a prominent building for which the art in the architecture is protected by copyright or trademark.

I suggest reviewing the copyright laws governing your particular situation, and consult with a competent attorney if you are confused about any potential disputes between yourself and your clients. What you're suggesting sounds illegal and not worth the trouble. Make your own photographs or buy a commercial license for stock photography for your own uses.

 

[johnt123]

be care of using photos on Websites...

i recomment to you to use free photos from http://www.morguefile.com/

 

[gnd]

Would it be "wrong" or "illegal" if I use these photos on my website (including the fact that I change the resolutions [i.e. bring a 4000x3000 image to 2560x1440]) but I do include where I've gotten these Photos from (with a hyperlink to the website).

No, it wouldn't be just wrong, it would be illegal to use someone else's work without their prior written consent.

 

[Captpegleg]

Silly questions seem to be a speciality [for the OP]. Think this one out and it certainly falls in the silly category for someone that already has a "Photography website".

 

[mackmgg]

Silly questions seem to be a speciality [for the OP]. Think this one out and it certainly falls in the silly category for someone that already has a "Photography website".

Oh, I must've misunderstood it. I thought he meant that he wanted to take photos from someone else's photography website, and put them on his own.

 

[flosseR]

Oh, I must've misunderstood it. I thought he meant that he wanted to take photos from someone else's photography website, and put them on his own.

I understood that too but the OP has a long history of asking pretty "dumb" questions in different ways all over again. In this case the question came down to: is it ok if i take someone's photo publish it on MY site but i credit him.. well that is like taking content from someone else and then just put there that oh yea i got this from X Y Z... Plain and simple, a short google search would have answered this to him already...

 

[arogge]

Photo thefts common occurrence

In this case the question came down to: is it ok if i take someone's photo publish it on MY site but i credit him..

This sort of thing happens quite often. People who can pay money simply rip off photographs and redistribute like it's their own property. It's too bad that annoying things like HDCP don't work for photography, because it would stop some of these idiots from ripping off my work. They're too lazy and incompetent to figure out a way around an annoyance like this. Their plan is to use Google to find photographs to suck up, and act like "It's on the Internet, so it's free for me to use." Others will strip out copyright notices embedded into the images, and even claim that someone else's work is their own while also demanding personal complements for the stolen photographs. Music labels get legal protection, movie companies get legal protection, but it's a free-for-all when it comes to the poor photographer.

 

[Vudoo]

I posted some photos from a car show on a forum and pretty soon I found them on other forums with no credit given to me. I was irked that people were complimenting the poster on the photos that I took.

 

[I AM THE MAN]

You have a Website, but the content belongs to other people? Does this mean that you are acting like a photo host? Do you have established contracts with these other content providers? If not, then using anyone else's work could be a copyright violation, worse if you are doing so prominently. Exceptions can be made, but if you've redistributed someone's work that came from someone else's camera, the general answer is to stop what you're doing and get an agreement from the photographer before proceeding further.

Saying things like "Credit: Some Guy at www.whatever" doesn't grant you the right to redistribute someone's work. My gallery is very hard about that, and I had to strip several old images out because I didn't have an explicit agreement in verbal or written form. Implied consent from a family member was not enough for the third-party images to be accepted, even if the person used my camera and I did the processing. The person has to say or write something that can be interpreted as a transfer of copyright ownership, or the image doesn't get accepted.

You really cross into a trouble zone if "use" means commercial use. Be careful about what commercial use means. It doesn't mean selling prints or otherwise making money for personal or business profit, for which you could be sued for any money made from the sale of someone else's work. Commercial use occurs when you use an image to endorse or otherwise advertise a product, which could include your own business or a corporate product. Misuse of an image during an act of commercial use is a debilitating lawsuit waiting to happen. Such a lawsuit can cover both money earned and your legal liability for misuse, to include misrepresentation of a person or a prominent building for which the art in the architecture is protected by copyright or trademark.

I suggest reviewing the copyright laws governing your particular situation, and consult with a competent attorney if you are confused about any potential disputes between yourself and your clients. What you're suggesting sounds illegal and not worth the trouble. Make your own photographs or buy a commercial license for stock photography for your own uses.

I know what you mean. The photos on the website is mostly mine, but a few are contributed by my friends and they allowed me to use their photos (they actually sent me it). The website allows people to contribute photos.

I posted some photos from a car show on a forum and pretty soon I found them on other forums with no credit given to me. I was irked that people were complimenting the poster on the photos that I took.

I'm sorry that must have been a disappointment