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Images on Google

edited June 2017 in - Talkback Help Pages
Can I use Google images without getting into legal things?
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  • What Liz said.

    There may be cases where you can use the image, but that will always involve 'legal things'.
  • For private use, yes. For public use, no unless you have the agreement of the photographer or they are specified as free to use.
  • I type in 'Royalty free image of...' but I'm not sure if even those are legal to reproduce.
  • For private use, yes.
    What makes you say that? If someone used any of my work, without my permission, I'd be unhappy about it even if they didn't make it public.

  • As all advise against then I'll stick with that. Any 'Dummies' books available covering this sort of query?
    Thank to all and great to be with 'other' writers.
    oggie
  • For private use, yes. For public use, no unless you have the agreement of the photographer or they are specified as free to use.
    Absolutely not - private or public.

    Anything that someone else has created, whether by moulding, sculpting, painting, photographing, digitally creating, or writing, or any other craft, is copyrighted to that person until 70 years after their death.

    There are so many photos all over the internet because taking photos nowadays is quick and simple. They are still copyright of the photographer - however, many photos can be used in what is known as under a Creative Commons License.

    If you Google Flikr Creative commons then you will find thousands of Creative commons images for digital use on the net. They are under about 5 headings - each license is slightly different. The photographers have allowed the photographs to be used for CERTAIN things. You have to read the license to learn what things. It is never for use for profit. For that, you have to pay. You can 'search' for photos on Flikr in the subject you want under the license headings, but be careful you don't search the whole site or you will come up with photos that are not under CC license. You always have to credit the photographer and link back the photographer and the page on which the photo was found.

    Also, you must check that the image is still creative commons- sometimes people change their minds - a dodgy area as you might use it when it has a license and then it is taken away and how do you prove your use was before the license was withdrawn? Best way is to contact the photographer and ask - and keep a record. I take a photo of the page sometimes with the license displayed.

    Usually, Wiki has Cc licensed photos under headings of subjects which you can search for. In this case you must follow the terms of the Cc license and the Wiki rules.

    Sometimes there are photos there that say because there is NO OTHER photo of that thing, perhaps a person from 100 years ago, the photo is there under 'fair use' rules - but this is a bit dodgy imo, and I never use those.

    Sometimes there are photos that have been released into the public domain - perhaps by a Museum or by the Whitehouse or Buckingham Palace. you have to credit the photographer and the site where you found the photo and observe any other rules there.

    It's an area fraught with difficulty - for instance, a painting may be out of copyright, but the photo of it is not - and what is more, the place where the painting is held may have sole use of showing that painting.

    If a piece of writing has been translated, then the writing may be out of copyright but the translation of it is not.

    So - it is possible to use photos, or whatever, but only under certain circumstances and certainly not without getting into legal things.

    And never trust Google - you can Google Creative Commons images but often they are not. And may be displayed on a blog for instance and you have to go to the originator of the image to get he license.

  • If someone used any of my work, without my permission, I'd be unhappy about it even if they didn't make it public.

    Shit, now I have to undo my Screen Saver with the big Maersk Line container ship. Damn!

  • You really should. Looking at ships all day does odd things to people.
  • For private use, yes.
    What makes you say that? If someone used any of my work, without my permission, I'd be unhappy about it even if they didn't make it public.

    What I mean by private is viewing the images, getting inspiration, looking up a particular thing eg if I'm drawing and want to see how someone would put their hands if they were standing in a particular way, etc, putting things on Pinterest (visual links), doing research on a geographical location etc. All of this is private and part of appreciating the picture or work of art. Where it becomes public is if you use the picture on social media or print it out and use it for your own art or work. I find Google Images really useful for research and use it almost every day.
  • For example, today I had to draw a giant bird's nest as part of an illustration so I looked up photos of giant nests to see the sort of shapes I might want to use.
  • Ah - I see. Yes, I agree that should be OK. It's a bit like reading non fiction books as research.
  • Oh, yes, i do that all the time.
  • Even where 'royalty free' you need to look at terms to make sure what you are doing is covered as in many cases that does not include any commercial use - ie things you make money with!
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