CopyRight, Photos and some Common Misunderstandings

I have a few regular hangouts on the internet. Many of them are art and photography sites, where I am used to the heated debates about copyright issues and art theft. I have seen and known fellow artists who have found their own stuff being sold on other sites. I have watched the battles that ensue between artists each claiming they are the author of a particular work. I have watched a few websites get torn down in the battle for stuff removed and others where frustrated artists plead for help getting their retribution.

This stuff really doesn't surprise me, in every walk of life we have thieves, some malicious, some not. However I did get quite the shock while browsing Yahoo Answers yesterday. A girl on there had posted some photos to her myspace account she later found said photos on another account with claims that this was the person in the photos. She was asking about the legality of the issue. Every answer on there said she had no legal rights to the original photo. One even went as far to say if you post it online you have given up all rights. I honestly couldn't believe my eyes. I then posted my question asking about what people knew of copyright and specifically mentioning some facts. Most of these answers disagreed with me and again spouted the wisdom if its online its a free for all. Now obviously for a girl on myspace it would not be financially or timely to seek legal recourse but the ignorance of the random poster bothered me a lot. Lets now throw around some facts that can hopefully clear some stuff up.

There is no copyright notice, that means I can use it!

Wrong! This at one time may have been true but most countries now follow something called the Berne Convention. The Berne convention states that a work is copyrighted to the author as soon as it is put down on a medium, furthermore no registration is required. Registration of a work does make it easier to sue for damages and for other types of damages.
If an image has no copyright assume you can't use it. An image that can be freely used will have a form of creative commons license attached to it or will have it stated where and how it can be used. There are plenty of stock sites, many of them free. Read the individual license for each picture. If at all in doubt contact the artist and ask for permission of use. Many are very understanding and will grant it.

Free stock sites; Stock Exchange (highly recommended)
Morguefile (highly recommended)
Image After
Free Photos Bank
OpenPhoto
BigFoto
USDA
NASA
Countries involved in the Berne Convention ; http://www.copyrightaid.co.uk/copyright_information/berne_convention_signatories

But its fair use!!

Oh my, fair use seems to get thrown around quite a bit, it seems to be a very misunderstood portion of the law. Fair use can cover a few things. Lets say for example you take a photo and in the background is someone else photo. Your inclusion of this is generally deemed fair use as long as it is not the focus in the picture. Fair use is for educational or editorial purposes. Fair use is also used for parodies and commentaries. When it comes to photography, fair use generally means stating the photographers name or a link back to the original posting. You can post a photo in order to critique it, but again the original author should be mentioned or asked for its use. I won't get into parody or stuff that has more to do with written work but here's some links you can read up on it in.
http://www4.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.html
http://www.pdimages.com/law/10.htm
Fair use can be a shadowy sticky ground, better to be avoided all together. When in doubt ask permission. Also remember if you ever find yourself charged with copyright infringement, if you claim fair use you have admitted guilt and then they will determine whether it falls in this murky territory. If it doesn't you have no other fall back.

If I don't make money off of it then no worries

This is slightly true but not altogether. If the piece has no value you are not likely to get sued for damages. Most judges won't look highly on the courts time being wasted for a worthless snap shot. Some particularly vindictive person may try to take you to court and that does take time and money. I have also seen groups of people band against someone who is known to have taken a work without permission. This is accomplished by hate mail, page spamming, and other means of online attack. Not something I would subject myself too.
Also many sites carry disclaimers stating that if you are caught uploading material that is not your it is grounds for suspension or expulsion from the site.


Keep in my mind people I'm not a lawyer, just use your common sense and most of all make sure you have proper permission.

Until next time.