Republishing without breaching copyright

[khendar]

Howdy,

I've recently started posting examples of my own work on my blog in order to attempt to get some feedback and exposure. I was also planning on posting images from other photographers that I find particularly inspiring, and providing full credits and source links wherever possible, and clearly noting that these images are not my own work.

I had already made a couple of posts in this manner when I realised that I'm probably breaching someone else's copyright by republishing their work without their permission. My site is clearly non-commercial and for informative/entertainment/inspirational purposes only but I know that people have gotten in trouble in the past for doing this very thing.

My plan is to attempt to contact the photographer wherever possible and obtain permission to republish before going ahead with it. Many of the images I have discovered are already on other sites, which often don't provide much detail as to the owner.

What are the legalities of republishing images when they don't come with explicit copyright/licensing statements ?

Is crediting the photographer and linking to the source enough to avoid potential legal trouble ?

Is there some kind of 'best practices' guideline for this kind of thing ? Am I worrying about nothing ?

Cheers.

[smallfooties]

I'm not sure how it works in the photography world.
But in the academic world, when one is doing an essay or report, cannot simply quote without citing the author and details of where the quote was taken from.
and in this sense, one does not have to contact the author for permission as long as one references the author.
i suppose it works the same in the photography world?
Not sure.
others might be able to help.

[Kym]

On AP you can link to an image (URL) but not display (IMG) if you don't own the ©.
Ideally you should also provide an attribution when you link.

[Tannin]

Rule-of-thumb: you cannot republish a photograph unless you have explicit permission. There are exceptions, but they are rare and you'd need to be very sure of your ground.

[mrDooba]

Is there some kind of 'best practices' guideline for this kind of thing ?

I would suggest you contact each and every photographer whose photo you would like to display and ask their permission.

I don't know anyone who would welcome their photos being used in any way with out their consent.

[Scotty72]

Generally, you can reproduce for things like:

fair criticism - eg. newspapers etc often reproduce works to illustrate their reviews;
news reportage - eg. the media splashed Bill Henson's work all over the place (without asking) when reporting that storm.
education purposes - teachers routinely use other's works as a part of instructing their students.

However, in all cases - you should attribute etc.

Also, AP may well decide it doesn't want to let those pics hang on its wall - I imagine that even the slight possibility of being dragged before the courts would give Rick pause? I assume Rick's legal team is slightly less well resourced that News Limited's

Scotty

[Longshots]

From my point of view, if someone wants to post a link to my work, hey great.

If they want to copy and use my image on their website, I'm not keen. And I do take action against those who have done it without asking (you dont need a big legal team, in fact I've never needed anything other than me suggesting that it would be a big problem if they use an image of mine without permission). It does and has happened, but that ison an individual approach/basis. I've said yes many times on that basis, but a) I want to be asked, and b) I want my image to be attributed - in a correct manner. Thats not just because of the law etc, but thats a fair and decent thing to do.

Keep it simple. Be fair.

[ricktas]

Ask first. It is cheaper than being sent a bill for using a copyrighted work (which the owner is entitled to do).

[khendar]

I was hoping I could use the "Fair Use" concept to justify embedding people's work, and I figured that providing links to their site and full credits was sufficient. However it seems as if the idea of fair use is a very grey area and there are no hard and fast rules governing its application.

Sounds like I'd be better off holding off on posting things untill I can get permission from the photographer.