Using Photos in Blogs and Articles

Hey, Sechelt! I'm on Bowen Island, BC

I think this is a perennial challenge -- getting permission to use photos. And yes, I think you do need to get permission from the photographer.

I've been wondering the same thing about photos for my new See Jane Soar blog, which offers life lessons from successful women -- and I like to include a photo of the successful woman, who is usually well-known!

I've been meaning to look up the Fair Use law -- I think it says that famous people's photos can be used because they're already in the public domain ????

In the meantime, I've been using photos from PhotoBucket, because I think those are intended for public use and are copyright free. However, I know there are photos there attributed to private photographers, but it's highly unlikely that person could have taken that photo (eg, a portrait shot of Dr Estelle Ramey from the 1950's).

For my Suite writing (we're fellow Suite-ers, too!), I use StockXchange.

If you learn anything new about photos and copyright outside of AW, please do come back and share....and by the way, there's a writer's festival on Bowen Island in July! Maybe you'll swing by?

Laurie

If you're not too concerned about including an AdSense ad that will not make you any money, PicApp.com has excellent pictures that are free to use as long as you don't modify the java to exclude their small ad. Might be worth checking out. The best part of using them IMO is that they typically have AP quality photos that are extremely current and the only tradeoff is the inclusion of their single ad at the bottom of the pic.

I use my own photos, so that makes it easier.

You may be ok under fair use - the blog has to be educational/informative, and not set up for profit...

There are sites that list photos you can use, like stock xchng. I don't look for them on the internet, the odds are if they are available it will still take months to get permission.

I get a lot of photos from flickr. A nice person here gave me a lesson and I can pass it on if you want. Also you can search the Creative Commons site in the same way, asking for images you can use commercially. I've usually been able to get something suitable that way.

A good rule of thumb for images: Unless you have permission, don't use it.

Some great sources for photos include the aforementioned PicApp, Wikimedia Commons, Flickr's Creative Commons, Morgue File and Stock xchnge.

When using images from these sites make sure to read all the terms and conditions.

Hi, Proach,

If you don't mind spending a little money, I've found that http://www.istockphoto.com is much better than the free sources of photos I've explored. You can search on practically any term and it will come up with pages of professional photos and graphics. It costs a little over a dollar to buy rights to a photo that's a good size for a blog, and you can buy as few as 12 credits at a time (a small photo generally costs 1 credit). Another bonus: There's no watermark on the photo, and you don't have to add a credit line.

I use this service for the Renegade Writer blog, and I'm super happy with it. And no, I am not affiliated with this business in any way!

Linda
Magazine Writing E-Course and Mentoring: http://www.writeformagazines.com

If you take photos from Flickr, on the Advanced Search page, there is a box to check to restrict your search to photos with a Creative Commons license. Note that this means you still have to give credit to the photographer. Also, there are different versions of the license that users can chose from, some of which restrict commercial use, so if you're making money off your blog, you may be violating the terms.

I've discussed the Fair Use issue with a lawyer and the unpleasant answer is that what counts as Fair Use for photos is unclear. Apparently you can't tell the details of how the law should be applied until someone's actually sued someone and gone to court and gotten a ruling. Also, be aware that just being educational or non-profit doesn't automatically make your usage Fair Use.

I'm actually curious whether most people who use Photobucket read the terms and realize they've given everyone the right to use their photos.

Oh, and Laurie - the photographer holds the copyright of a photo, not the subject. So the fact that it's a photo of a famous person doesn't mean it's copyright-free.

Like some others mentioned, I use Creative Commons almost exclusively. I search Flickr for those photos and then I credit the photographer at the end of the post, with a link to their profile on Flickr.

You may want to ask your client where they recommend you get the photos. Sometimes gig want you to produce the photographs yourself.

This is the reason why I wanted to learn photography... so I wouldn't have to mess with copyrights and that sort of thing.

But thanks for the tips, even though I wasn't the original poster!

I use www.morguefile.com

The photos are placed there for free use and each one usually has an email of the photographer so you can let them know you've used their work.

I email the owner, give them a link, and thank them. Sometimes you get an email back with links to other photo sites of theirs and permission to use their work with credit, anytime.

I've tagged the morgue file site. It's a great resource! Thanks!