Posting images - please get permission first
Posted: Sun Mar 07, 2010 4:00 pm
Looks like it's time for another reminder about images and netiquette...
The internet often appears to be a completely free-wheeling, public-domain, use-anything-you-want place. It isn't.
There is a person behind every website, and that person (or maybe company) usually owns the copyright for images that are on that website.
When you post an image (using an IMG link) without first getting permission, you are:
1) Using something you don't own
2) Using the resources of the website where the image is located (every time its viewed)
Much of the time, the owners of websites don't really care. Bandwidth has gotten less restrictive, so it probably won't cost the site owner anything extra, nor (worst case) get them shut down temporarily for excessive bandwidth.
So please, try to get permission from the website owners before using their image. At the least, provide a link back to the site where you got it.
As an aside, or a pre-answer to the obvious follow-on question... no, you should not download the image, and then either upload it to your own website and refer to it, nor attach it to a forum post. While those two options remove the bandwidth problem, they make the copyright issue worse -- there is no way to see who the true owner of the image is, since you've severed ties to the original site by downloading it.
The internet often appears to be a completely free-wheeling, public-domain, use-anything-you-want place. It isn't.
There is a person behind every website, and that person (or maybe company) usually owns the copyright for images that are on that website.
When you post an image (using an IMG link) without first getting permission, you are:
1) Using something you don't own
2) Using the resources of the website where the image is located (every time its viewed)
Much of the time, the owners of websites don't really care. Bandwidth has gotten less restrictive, so it probably won't cost the site owner anything extra, nor (worst case) get them shut down temporarily for excessive bandwidth.
So please, try to get permission from the website owners before using their image. At the least, provide a link back to the site where you got it.
As an aside, or a pre-answer to the obvious follow-on question... no, you should not download the image, and then either upload it to your own website and refer to it, nor attach it to a forum post. While those two options remove the bandwidth problem, they make the copyright issue worse -- there is no way to see who the true owner of the image is, since you've severed ties to the original site by downloading it.