I was teaching social media to a 4 year degree college marketing class a few weeks back and a question was asked about using music and images from the Internet and about :Fair USe.” I was a little shocked to hear that college students actually believe that they can use these digital items and cal it Fair Use.
Everyone thinks it is safe and they won’t get caught. After all, everyone else is doing it. Thousands of users, bloggers and marketers do it over and over every single day. They violate the law every single day without giving a thought to it–using pics from blogs, Pinterest and Google Images without giving it a second thought.
Most people belive that Google is a giant content source or depository prepared for takers to use images andthat it is a database of public domain or copyright-free works for the public. This is so not true. Google is a search engine that helps you locate content such as images and photos through indexing by category or search criteria.
U.S. Copyright Act
Under the U.S. Copyright Act, images of various sorts are called “pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works”. These works are defined to “include two-dimensional and three-dimensional works of fine, graphic, and applied art, photographs, prints and art reproductions, maps, globes, charts, diagrams, models, and technical drawings, including architectural plans.” So illustrations, photographs, charts and the like, are all protected by copyright.
Do not be mislead. Every image that is protected by copyright does not have to be marked with the protected symbol ©. Even if an image does not have a copyright symbol © symbol, it may still be protected by copyright. You will need to conduct research to see whether the image or photograph is in fact protected by copyright law or whether it may be in the public domain.
As a normal procedure if a photographer, blogger or website owner sees an image that belongs to them on your social pages or blog they will send a courtesy notice of removal to take down the image. In most cases if you reply nicely and the remove the photo things will be alright. Let me warn you that’s that not always the way it works out. Even if you take down the image within minutes the website owner, photographer or owner of the photo can request compensation for the picture. If that happens you will most definitely lose and end up compensating them with a significant amount of money that you don’t have, not to mention the stress, payment for a lawyer and then you end up paying money that you don’t have for a use of a photo you didn’t need. For about $10 bucks you could have purchased a beautiful relevant image on one of about a million stock photo sites.
I know positively that many, many of you are doing this very thing without realizing it’s a copyright violation. Whether intentionally or unknowingly, a significant number of standards users are breaking copyright laws by reproducing and/or redistributing material and images on the Internet.
Everyone talks about the “Fair Use” law or privilege they have with content that is plastered everywhere. Let’s get one thing straight. “Fair Use” is not a free permission slip that gives anyone the right to infringe on someone’s intellectual or creative property. The term is used wrong and used incorrectly under the wrong circumstances. Fair use is for non profit or education purposes only. According to the US copyright law here is the explanation of “Fair Use” of material.
In the United States, Fair Use allows for the limited use of copyrighted material without the copyright holder’s permission. The difference between infringement and fair use is not always clear. Four factors are utilized to determine if infringement has occurred. The four factors include: (1) the purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes; (2) the nature of the copyrighted work; (3) the amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole; and (4) the effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work. (http://www.acc.com/legalresources/quickcounsel/icpituscaeu.cfm#hid7)
FInd out more about Fair Use Here
Copyright infringement occurs when intellectual property is reproduced, performed, broadcast, translated or adapted without the express permission of the creator or the group/individual licensed to handle the material in question. Today, the Internet makes the distribution of data far easier than ever before. Now, we can instantly, at the push of a button share text, photos, videos, and more across the world in seconds. And once anything is released on the web, it’s impossible to take it back.
Seeking remedy for copyright violations is getting more and more common and serious nowadays. Copyright owners are going hard after infringements. A very common thing to see these days is a notice ccoming to you with a threat to sue you for using an image. The number of mass copyright infringement lawsuits has been growing as well. These suits filed in the US over the past several years aren’t designed with the idea of actually taking anyone to court, but mainly to threaten people into “settling” (i.e., paying up) to avoid the lawsuit. And some companies don’t stop at just filing suit, but try to intimidate and threaten their targets into settling. In many cases the copyright owner wins against unsuspecting naive citizens.
I have been researching this topic for some time and in my company, Creative Web Concepts USA, I take a very strong stand against this practice with digital media usage for our clients. We don’t want copyright infringed material on our clients social pages, websites and blogs.
Further let’s discuss video. The DMCA was really enacted because Hollywood wanted the bill to protect its intellectual property from being infringed on a massive scale. With Blue Ray and DVD technology this massive infringement had to be controlled. Then in order to function OSP and ISP’s were sheltered in a “Safe Harbor” to protect them from clueless users like you and I.
To earn that so-called “safe harbor,” the intermediary such as video-sharing site YouTube must promptly remove material if the copyright holder sends a takedown notice. But the company can restore the content if the user certifies that it’s noninfringing, and the copyright claimant fails to sue.
I believe I would be safe to say that there is a very large percentage of people who do not know it is illegal to invite their friends over for food, popcorn and beer and a flick on movie night in your basement, media room or even clubhouse.
How Can You Avoid Breaking the Law
Before using any material that isn’t your own intellectual property, this includes photos, videos, sketches, drawings, cartoons, animations and the such… always check its copyright status very carefully. As a general rule, if a site doesn’t explicitly make clear the material is free for reuse or appropriation, then always assume it’s copyright material. Careless or thoughtless use of online material can cause financial devastation for a small business. Fines can go up to $150,000 per image.
It does not matter if you were told to do this by a credible website. Entrepreneur.com can mislead people Look at this post. https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/271732 This is their advice: (Use images when you can. It doesn’t matter what it is — a photo of a favorite celebrity, a pretty landscape, a cute animal, a colorful infographic or a fun GIF. A photo or animation will catch the eye and more than likely make them stop browsing long enough to look. It will also help with your SEO optimization. Videos also work well for this.)
It does not matter if you link back to the source and list the photographer’s name
It does not matter if the picture is not full-resolution and is only a very small thumbnail
It does not matter if you did it out of pure innocence and did not know any better.
It does not matter if your site is personal, religious and not for business, and you made no money from the use of the photo
It does not matter if you did not take ownership of the photo
It does not matter if you’ve added text on the image, added a story or quote with the photo
It does not matter if the picture is embedded and not saved on your server
It does not matter if you have a disclaimer on your site. Some people thought they were safe by using a disclaimer something like this; (THIS BLOG claims no ownership of any images, videos, animations, drawings or visuals of any kind posted on this site unless otherwise noted. Images on this blog are copyright to its respectful owners. If there is an image appearing on this blog that belongs to you and do not wish for it appear on this site, please E-mail with a link to said image and it will be promptly removed.)
It does not matter if you immediately take down a pic if someone sends you a DMCA notice (You do have to take it down, but it doesn’t release you from the violate repercussions.) If you’ve been using images without approval from the internet on your blogs, know that you are probably violating copyright and could be sued for it.
Now that I have you thinking is your heart racing and your mind racing back to all of those images from Google images that you thought were free? Is your mind racing to all of the images you have been using? Is is probable that you have been guilty of this? Is it possible? You may want to consider going through your posts and delete pics that aren’t yours. Immediately. Period. It is not enough to state where they came from. That does not make it legal.
SOLUTIONS:
Use images that have a Creative Commons (CC) license. However, be aware that a CC license is just that: a license. You need to read its terms and conditions and see what’s allowed or not. Not all CC licenses allow the same uses. A CC license may allow use as-is, or in a remix or as part of a new work, and in most cases requires attribution of the copyright owner.
If the images have been released with an open license or under a creative commons license, then it is OK to use them. These are the legal places to get images Some examples: http://www.creativecommons.orghttp://www.flickr.com/creativecommons/ http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2011/… Here’s how to search Google Images for creative commons images http://googleblog.blogspot.ca/2009/07/find-creative-commons-images-with-image.html
Purchase images from stock photo agencies and follow the license terms
Ask permission to use images. When you seek permission from the copyright owner of an image, always ask first if they actually own the copyright in the image.
My company has a subscription to several sites and I am even going to give you some FREE stuff.
- ADOBE SPARKlets you create stunning images and videos and they provide all stock images and video images FREE. Just sign up. https://spark.adobe.com
- CANVAlets you create images with over 1,000,000 pictures available. Many are free and it is only $1.00 to pay for the premium ones.
- DEPOSIT-PHOTOWe have subscriptions to stock photography sites. Not all are expensive. We pay $50 per month for 50 downloads of any size photo. We can get 25 MB images that are 4000 x 6000 if we want. I love this site compared to sites that want a few hundred for one image.
- fotoloia– We have a subscription to this site, too. Very inexpensive and great photos.
- MOBILE– Almost every phone has a camera. Take your own photos and share the love. Become the creative creator. Your blog will look great. You can manipulate your photos, add text, change the hue or color and you will love it. Be purposeful when you go places to just take tons of photos. You can develop an entire library of everything from cars to water boats, buildings, nature, people etc… The possibilities are endless.
- CAMERA– pick up an inexpensive camera and start creating your own content. Today!
- FREE STOCK SITEShttps://www.entrepreneur.com/article/238646
- Free Images.comhttp://www.freeimages.com/
- Public Domain Free Stock Photos– http://publicdomainarchive.com/free-stock-photos/
All of the options I provided are cheaper than a lawsuit or a payoff for a crime you committed without knowing.
copyright 2016 Shelley Costello
#1 Amazon International Best-Selling Author
Professional Social Media Strategist and Manager
(407) 308-0184
CEO / President Creative Web Concepts USA
SKYPE ID: shelley.costello
shelleyacostello@gmail.com
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