I found some great images to put on my website. Unfortunately, I can't find out where they originated from so I can either purchase the rights or link to the origination site. Any suggestions?

Sounds like a daunting task! I really can't help with those photos, but I've found lots of great free ones at www.sxc.hu . Hope this helps.

Mike

There really isn't a way to find out who originally created or owned the images. There is a digital signature on the image, or the author, but that doesn't mean it wasn't changed or is actually the author, not just the name or someone who got them from someone else who got them from someone else who originally got it from the author.

Even assuming the author was correct there is no contact information saved on the file. (unless for some reason the author is a website address, which is highly doubtful).

Basically you can either just not use them on the basis of you don't know who's they are, go search a couple billion if not trillions of webpages and try to find the same image on one of the pages, or just put them on your website with a disclaimer at the bottom saying something like "Images are not the property of www.yoursite.com, if these are your images contact [your email] and they will be removed asap, and with our appology" or something like that...

basically just saying you don't know who's pictures they are, if they are yours and you don't want me to use them I won't anymore, sorry...

It doesn't make it "legal" but at least shows you weren't trying to take credit for something that isn't yours.

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Thanks for the suggestions. I checked out www.sxc.hu and they have some great images I can use. I also tried searching for the origination of those images, have been all day. I like them too much to just move on, so I think I'll be using a disclaimer. At least I'm covered either way and if by some chance the owner does contact me maybe I can still get the rights to display them. They're only being used to enhance the website, not sell anything so I'm not falsifying the images in any way. Thanks again for your help :)

My thoughts would be that wherever you found those images you should be able to find out as well if you are allowed to use them, if you found them by doing a pic search, you will need to go to the actual website they are on and see if they give any stipulations for use of the images ...

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It sounds like you found some images at a website that offers license to use them (hence, the ability to purchase rights you speak of).

In the later banterings of this thread, you have been testing the waters, so to speak, about simply using them without paying the required fees under the guise of not being able to ascertain who "the originator" is......that is not the issue, and you know it: either you pay the price, or you in every instance run afoul of the law with regard to using a Copyrighted material.

Scamming images on the back end and using them with some cacamamie "disclaimer" is both deceptive and childish, and is likely to return to you the liability you tried to craft away from.

Get on the program, people.......

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