If you're like me, you've probably been clueless about copyrighted photos that you find on the internet. Google makes is easy to find any photo you want just by typing in a subject, then clicking "images". It doesn't get any easier than that to find whatever you want to make your posts pop. But you have no way of knowing if these are copyrighted. I guess the rule of thumb is to assume everything is copyrighted unless it says otherwise.
Unfortunately, I have hundreds of photos saved on my computer, and at this point, I have no idea where I got them so I'm just hoping for the best, and educating you so you don't end up in this predicament.
I'm going to give you a list of web sites that provide Public Domain images, aka Creative Commons works. But before I get to the list, let me share a few
things.
- Some sites that say they're public domain sites, actually mix public domain photos with stock photos that may or may not be public domain. Make sure you read the sites' rules!
- Be aware of if you click on a photo and it takes you out of the public domain site where you started.
- "Photo sharing" sites such as Flickr and Photobucket are filled with photographers and even REALTORS who have their works copyrighted. This is completely beyond me. I only found one photographer who actually spelled out his copyright rules in his personal description. For everything else, when I typed in a search phrase, I had to click on every individual photo to see if it was copyrighted. Even then it was hard to tell. So what are they sharing? The right to look at an image online? Who searches for images just to do that? I don't get it.
- Works of the Federal Government are usually in the public domain. Be aware of the "usually". You're going to have to double check when using these.
- Some photos are classified as public domain, but may contains some else's trademark, which can get you sued if you use it. It is suggested that you edit out the trademarks. The same goes for people in photos. If you can recognize someone's face, there's a chance of you getting sued.
- With many public domain images, you may still need to cite the source when you use them. This may not have to be done on every image though. You can usually setup a page on your web site, or a section of your blog description, strictly for citing your sources.
With all that being said. The list of sites is below. I suggest you bookmark them for future use, or you can bookmark my post and come back later, when you need these links. Just make sure you read the rules for each site. I filtered out as many of the confusing ones as possible, but even these have some fine print.
www.CopyrightFreePhotos.com
www.LogoDesignWeb.com/StockPhotos
www.FreeFoto.com
The Springfield Township High School Virtual Library
www.public-domain-photos.com
www.publicdomainpictures.net
Environmental Education Station
www.FreePhotos.se
www.PDPhoto.org
http://geekphilosopher.com
Now let's see some prettier posts around here. Good luck!
(So does anyone know why that Google image button is even there? I've never gone looking for images just because I felt like looking at them. So what's with that stupid button? It's just begging to get people into trouble.)
The images in this post are by Jon Sullivan. They can be found at www.public-domain-photos.com
;)
Tags (Tag Cloud);)
Archives
;)
Thanks for sharing this list Lisa! I'm bookmarking it.