Hi all

I'm really new to website building and just wanted to know what the laws (if any) of using photos taken off the internet to use on your website.

Will I be breaching copyrights (don't want any lawsuits!) if I use images taken off the web (i.e via google & yahoo) on my website ?

I have tried to use as many of my own, but there are some which just look really cool and are virtually impossible to re-create.

I just wanted to know is it ok to use photos downloaded off the internet? Or will I be breaching copyrights if I do so?

Thanks for any help in advance.

Mahesh

there is always a possibility that you will be taking photos that are copyrighted. You can always contact the owner of the website that you want to take a picture from and ask permission. if he says yes, make sure you get an email confirming this. there are also many websites that sell pictures. the sight i use a lot is www.istockphoto.com
they literally have millions of pictures on the site and i'm sure you will find something you like.
mrmagoo144
www.videopostcards.info

Hi

You definitely can't just go taking images from the internet. Depending on the image, that can be in breach of copyright and you can land yourself in some serious trouble.

Some of the paid image sites are really quite cheap, and there are free sites around, such as as sxc. You have to check the copyright information at the free sites as well, as there are certain restrictions there too.

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make-website.com

Hi, its a very grey area in the respect of what the photo is being used for. If you are re-selling the image for profit? Then yes you will be in trouble. But if it is part of a description to aid some text on a web page & you didn't know there was any copy write? At worst you may be asked to remove the image.

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From Chris,

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Hi chaps

Thanks for your advice.
I'm bascially building a nutrition website, so the pics i've currently got for my site are of fruits, vegetables etc, nothing high profile like famous scenes or backgrounds. I wonder if this will be ok.
Thanks for the Istockphoto link, I will have a look on there shortly.

Rgds

If they are not yours, they belong to someone else. There are sites that have free pix. here, here and here

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CarbonTerry
Semper Fi

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Nearly every website posts "Copyright" and 'permissions' declarations at the bottom of their site as the first indication that anything that is plagiarized is subject to recouse via enforcement according to the limits of pertaining law (Domestic and International).

You may get away with using images for a while, but invariably it is easy enough to trace instances of abuse, especially with the growing use of www.CopyScape.com by even the smallest of website publishers!


Additional Copyright/Trademark/Service Mark Reference Info

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Cheers for your input guys.
I have found loads of photos on istockphoto.com, and have since purchased (with copyright permission) all the photos I need using their credit system.