Hey
If i want to use a picture i found through the google’s serach engine, is it legal?
how can i know if it’s ok to use the picture or not?
and if its wrong, are there any free pictures databases which one can use for his facebook page or website?
thank you for you help.
You can use a picture provided you have the permission of the owner to use it - or if the picture was taken so long ago that it is now out of copyright.
If you using the picture for business I think it would be wise if contact the image owner or you can put an information about picture source.
You can use the Google Advanced Image Search and ask for it to filter for usage rights for images that are free to use/share/modify.
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Is that still true? I often used to filter image searches in that way, but the option seems to be no longer available. Using the sidebar in the search results, you can filter on date, size, colour and a few others, but not on usage rights, as far as I can see.
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Stock.xchng has nearly 4 million images that can be used free of charge for most projects.
It’s at www.sxc.hu
It’s now ultimately owned by industry leader Getty Images, so don’t worry about the peculiar name and obscure domain that make it sound like a European porn site. It isn’t!
Basically, Getty use it as a ‘feeder’ for one of their paid-for stock image sites called IStockPhoto.com. When you do a search you’ll find the first and last row of images presented are actually links to paid-for images on IStockPhoto, but all the images in the middle are free to use. You still need to read the licensing requirements for each image, of course. Usually, however, contributors don’t place any onerous demands on users. The most common requests are a thank you credit, or simply to let the photographer know where you have used their image.
There are a surprising number of good images available. It’s a very useful resource, and perfect for sourcing ‘safe to use’ images for tight clients who don’t want to spend money on images. Give them the web address and tell them to search for images they like.
It’s very unwise to use images found via Google unless you definitely have permission to use them. There are many threads on this forum detailing the problems people have had when they used images that turned out to belong to companies like - and here they are again - Getty Images. Demands for thousands of dollars are often reported, and offering to remove the image doesn’t make the lawyers disappear. The argument is, you used a paid-for image without paying, so now you must pay for it. Fair enough, too.
Paul
[FONT=Verdana]I didn’t know there was such an option until Sperlock mentioned it. It’s not easy to find. There’s an “Options” button in the top right, which gives a drop-down menu with “Advanced search” as one of the options. Choose this, and the filter for usage options is at the bottom of the page.
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Thanks for that TechnoBear. You’re dead right: it’s not easy to find. I would never have thought to look there.
Mike
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