Book Blogging 101: Copyright on Images and Artwork

Book Blogging 101: Copyright on Images and Artwork


PJV Readers


Using Images from the internet can be a copyright violation.

Web Images and CopyrightIn the past couple of weeks I’ve been emailed a few times by design clients and other book bloggers telling me that they’ve found their images on other people’s blogs. This happens routinely and it is very unfortunate. It is the reason I add clients logos on every banner when I design. Redundant…but when you search the blogoverse and then see YOUR image, that YOU paid money for, on someone else’s site, it doesn’t make you feel very good. It is sometimes just as bad as being plagiarized.

Yet, taking images can be easily justified by offenders. Take this image to the left for example. It is simple. Made from fonts you might recognize.  How easy is is to right click it and grab it? It’s nothing but a copyright symbol. You can’t copyright a copyright symbol. True. But, the way I display it is mine. Protected under copyright laws. And how is it right that I spent time, paid for programs, to create that one little image — and all you have to do is right click and grab it? Does that make sense? Is that justifiable? 

Things have increased over the years, especially now with Google Image search. Users don’t even have to see what blog or website the image is coming from. All they have to do is type something like “Blog Tour” into the search engine and voila — tons and tons of images. Users see one they like and use it on their blog. No big deal. Google wouldn’t have an image search if they didn’t want us to use the images, right? Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Parajunkee, Urban Fantasy, Blogger Tips

Pictures are Just Like Words. They are covered by the same copyright laws.

Things to keep in mind when using an image on your blog:

  1. Taking artwork from another blog or website and placing it on your blog is a copyright violation. You can be subject to fines, legal repercussions and your blog being shut down because of DMCA laws. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act is used in force, especially by large internet companies and CMS software companies. If you are on Blogger, one email to Google can shut down your blog for good, especially if the person you “borrowed” from has proof. Is that image worth it?
  2. Giving “credit” on the image does not give you the legal right to post it.
  3. You can only use an image on your blog if the owner of the image gives a “free to use” disclaimer with the image or images .
  4. Free to use images sometimes also come with restrictions, like “give credit”, “link back” or only usable on a certain type of site.
  5. Grabbing an image online and then changing the coloring, adding text or cropping does not constitute ownership, you are still in copyright violation.
  6. If you can’t find the owner of an image, or see a copyright this does not put it in the public domain. You can not claim ignorance on copyright by giving the excuse, “I couldn’t find the owner” or “I didn’t know.”  Ignorance is not a viable excuse. You can’t steal a six pack of beer from the corner store and get before the judge saying “I didn’t know it was against the law” and expect him to let you off. Same applies for copyright.
  7. The moment someone takes a photograph or creates a work of art copyright protection is attached to that piece even if they don’t file with the Copyright Office. They own the rights to reproduce, display, distribute etc. They have to give PERMISSION or relinquish copyright in order for the photograph/art to be displayed or reproduced. They, or their legal representative are the only ones that can give permission.
    1. This is why when dealing with a designer, artist or photographer, even if you pay for commissioned work, you must get permission to reproduce their work. Bought a beautiful photograph that you are using for the cover image of your book? If the artist gave you permission for an eBook, if you want to get them printed and distributed? Guess what? You have to go back and ask permission. Even purchased stock photography has limits on their distribution. Only a certain number of imprints, only on certain things…can’t be redistributed etc.
  8. You can contact the photographer/designer/artist and ask permission to display their work. If they do not reply, you still do not have permission to use their work.

To summarize, there is a lot of confusion about online images and what we can and can’t do. People tote phrases like “Fair Use” especially when books are involved. You do have the right to post a book cover, so why not images or art? But, you see, there are very definitive rules about artwork and photography. And “Fair Use” usually does not apply to them, where it applies to books and book covers. And you have to remember those definitive laws have serious consequences. There are tons of online FREE stock photography sites that you can download images for days, get off other blogs and go there. They have some nice photography too. Sites like deviantart.com have wonderful art that gives “free use” in the credits. Just make sure to check because those usually require links and credit.

Just remember you shouldn’t be scared of using images, just keep in mind where they are coming from, instead of just willy-nilly right-clicking. And — if you find yourself on someone’s blog and see a banner, button or some kind of design that you really like…don’t do it. They probably spent time designing it themselves or hired someone to design it for them. You have no right to use it…if you are that tempted, email the blogger and see if they’ll let you use it. Who knows, you might be surprised by their answer.

Parajunkee, Urban Fantasy, Blogger Tips

Have you found your image on another person’s website?

What do you do? Here are some tips:

  1. Contact the blogger and ask that they remove the image.
  2. If no response or a negative response is given, contact their ISP and file a DMCA complaint (it should stop here)
  3. Still up and running? And you don’t want to give up. Copyright your image or artwork, by filing with the copyright office.
  4. Hire a lawyer, once you have a filed copyright then you can take civil legal actions.

Parajunkee, Urban Fantasy, Blogger Tips

“could you please help me think of an awesome name for my site. it will be about books.” - jahzel warlike 

While I’m flattered that you would think that I am so full of awesome that I could just spit out the BEST BLOG NAME ever just like that, without even knowing any information, sadly, I don’t think I’m that talented. Your name has to be uniquely personal to you and stand-out from the thousands of other blogs on the metaphorical block. Good luck…and get to work. Only you can do it, don’t wait for others to step up to the plate, because you’ll be very disappointed.

Update: Savy of Books with Bite brought up something that I failed to mention. Blog Tours. Ever get a guest post full of images? Where did they get those images? Your site will be in violation of DMCA if you post them…not the author. Look kids, I hate to be Paula Pessimist, but ignorance is not bliss. Especially now that our little part of the blogoverse has become exceedingly hostile at times. All it takes is one DMCA violation and your site goes *poof* {source}

Parajunkee, Urban Fantasy, Blogger Tips

Book Blogging News:

Payback is a B*!ch
STGRB is taken down by hackers and the Writer behind the vindictive group is exposed.

This week I discovered new terms like Dark Net, which I’m actually kind of scared to venture into talking about LOL — don’t mention the ghosts and they won’t haunt you right? Well after the notoriously troll fueling site Stop the Goodread Bullies went down for a few days this week, the speculation went crazy. A few claimed that Anonymous, a hacktivist (as described on wiki) organization, best known for taking down renown internet predators and cyber attacks on the Pentagon, was to blame. Other speculation was that their host site, GoDaddy had finally dropped them like a bad habit because of the constant DMCA violations. Who knows, they are back and running sans all their comments…but on a new host and with a different look. Their site is now reporting repeated attacks and attempted hacks. While I don’t condone any sort of malicious behavior, my opinion is…What did they expect?

The other thing to come out of all of this…was more proof that Melissa Douthit is in fact the brain child behind the STGRB site. It was highly suspected that Douthit was the nefarious Athena Parker…since the site was basically a bigger rendition of  Douthit’s attack on Wendy Darling, but Douthit vehemently denied it. Athena Parker, the owner of the STGRB site was supposably just a member who “inspired by those who have already taken a stand, have come together in an effort to stop the bullying…”. I declare shenanigans. It was obvious Douthit was Athena, and she lacked the brain-power or resources to cover her tracks well and now we seem to have proof. Well, internet proof. This whole thing just seems to be a farce, you couldn’t make it up. But, here it is … and this author because of ONE BAD REVIEW is on some kind of campaign that I believe will only lead to a very unhappy ending for a lot of people. How can any good come from this?

When will the insanity end? Have we not learned from every Disney cartoon that in the end you get back everything you dish out? Live by the sword, die by the sword…so let’s all go out and hug a fluffy purple unicorn and maybe we’ll learn how to at least coexist peacefully people. Angry people make for very bad conversation partners. Let it go, or resign yourself to being the girl in the corner all by herself with no-one to talk to but the voices in your own head. {source}

Parajunkee, Urban Fantasy, Blogger Tips

More Plagiarism in the Book Blogger World

I guess The Story Siren is still a shinning example  to some book bloggers…because obviously some of us haven’t learned yet that PLAGIARISM IS WRONG. This particular blog, though, caught red-handed plagiarizing reviews,  did actually come out with a public apology and the reviewer in question was given the boot from the blog. What a terrible thing to happen to victims of the plagiarism and the unaware co-blogger. Could you imagine? The redonculous thing about the whole situation was that it was during a Blog Tour for the book and the reviewer actually took pieces of reviews from other tour stops. She was outed on twitter and ALL the victims were notified.  She literally took paragraphs word from word from multiple reviews. A very dumb move, like the tour host and author wouldn’t see that as they read all the reviews…or the people following the tour? Former book blogger K.K. gets the dumbest criminal award for this one. I hope she learned from this mistake…you plagiarize you get caught. It might not be right away, but things on the internet NEVER go away. The reviews have been removed, the blogger fired…I would say this is a good outcome to the situation, but the blog in question will lose a lot of credibility and they are just in their infancy. Unfortunately us old-hat book bloggers have long memories. {source}

Happy Thursday. Talk Less. Read More. Blog with Integrity.

Ask A QuestionHave a question? Fill out the form by clicking on the button to the left. This will go into a spreadsheet to be looked over at a later date and hopefully answered on this blog. This is completely anonymous, you do not have to leave your real name. Urls will not be included in your question unless it pertains to the question.
 

Rachel, whom you might know as Parajunkee, is the blog owner of parajunkee.com and the design blog parajunkee.net. Rachel has been blogging for close to four years, designing / web programming for over twelve, but her real love, reading, has been her favorite hobby since childhood. Rachel has won numerous awards for her writing, the blogs she has created and her design work.

43 Comments

  1. Awesome post Rachel!

  2. Before I started blogging I didn’t even think about Plagiarism of images and then once I started doing some research, I found the free stock sites and created my own stuff.

    What I don’t get is why people think that no one will notice that you stole their image. Makes no sense.

    Very informative post! Thanks.

    • I think they don’t care. Just like plagiarizers of words, people think that it is a big internet and no-one will notice. Or they do it out of misinformation. A lot believe that they can. I know tons of people are having issues with Pinterest because of image copyright. You can’t do that either. Tough internet world.

  3. I would add that under Google Advanced Search, you can limit by “usage rights.” This is very helpful — but not ALWAYS accurate (sometimes pictures have been re-posted illegally, so that mucks it up.) But it’s a place to start — you still need to do your homework, though, before using. Creative Commons is also a good site to find images that have less limited usage rights.

    Great post. This needed to be addressed.

    • Thanks Annette. I only use Google Images for research not to post, so I haven’t discovered that. Thanks for the tip.

  4. I recently downloaded a Free stock photo for a giveaway. I thought it was totally safe because the site just said “give credit to this site” which I did. The day my giveaway went live I was pretty much accused of copying because a blog had used the same image for a giveaway as well. I will no longer use free stock images I have decided to pay for graphics to be made. I felt like I was defending myself when I didn’t do anything wrong. It was like “you copied & its to coincidental” but really I hadn’t. It literally made me want to stop blogging because it was such a horrible feeling. I like wanted to track all my history so I could prove this is where i was and how I discovered this image.

    • Look — I design cover designs. I use stock images. I’ve seen a girl I’ve used on a cover appear on another cover. Oh damn! Its an eye-opener, but they aren’t copying if they are using the same stock photography that is available for EVERYONE. Now if you have the same name, text, font etc on top of that stock photo — well yes. Or if you have it modified in a similar way. Like you take that stock photo, cut out the image and place it on a pattern that is just like the other girls image — now you are in violation. Same stock fine. Same set-up not fine. Make sense? It’s a slippery slope. But if you are just using an image, that was freely offered, with no design around it…you are in the clear. Tell that girl to read up on copyright laws and get back to you later…I’ve had to do it on numerous occasions. Uninformed people make all kinds of ridiculous claims. Just because they say it, doesn’t make it right. The best way to fight ignorance is by informing yourself. If you back-down they win and ignorance wins. And if you did nothing wrong you are in the clear.

  5. Bad a$$ post. Linking to it. Thank you for your advice and updates.

    • Thanks for the link chick. I appreciate it. And how you comment so much Juju. I don’t know how you do it ;)

  6. Great post, thanks for sharing your knowlegde with us! I have heard a lot about this recently and am thinking of making a disclosure policy for my blog soon, to make clear who own the rights to the pictures I use. Sometimes it is difficult to know when something is legal and when not. Well at least sharing book covers is legal ;)

  7. Okay firstly I have to say you ARE that awesome and you can come up with such an amazing blog name for everyone…

    And you totally gave my blog name a perfect brand/design with the [ ] on the Fiktshun. It’s made all the difference. So oh my gosh yes you are that awesome.

    Thank you for spreading the news about this. All those Team Banners I have had designed and paid for seem to be the biggest ones that get “lifted.” Just because someone else offers them with grab code doesn’t mean I do, so it’s always a little sad to see them elsewhere. Especially when I have notices on my site – clearly unread – that says graphics are for my use.

    But design is such an important part of my online presence. I spend money and a LOT of time getting things to look exactly how I’d like them to look so when someone pilfers something I’ve either paid to have created or created myself in Photoshop, it breaks my heart worse than if they’ve taken an idea or reworded a review.

    Okay, well… maybe equally.

    Savy brought up a good point. During our summer tour we had given bloggers the options not to use images given by authors for their spots. I no longer will post images unless they were the author’s own personal ones or they’d purchased with a license to use – like from Shutterstock.

    And I always worry about even those because there are very limited rights to use for those. I purchased something from Getty just to use as a button on my sidebar but was informed that IF anyone stole that image and used it I would be responsible. So I never posted it online and just look at it longingly in my sidebar.

    I’m still unclear about celebrity photos and rights involved with those. So I often wonder about “dream cast” posts.

    And Google Images has got to put some kind of disclaimer on their page or notice. Because people really don’t know they aren’t just free-for-all. All those dividers you made for me are on there and anyone can easily grab what I paid for and they aren’t watermarked.

    Anyway… I’m not going to go on and on about this as I’m still heartbroken.

    But oh my gosh re: STGRB. After the initial drama I’d let that slip off my radar. It’s amazing how after being taken down they are still trying to get back up and running. I guess all that anger provides a lot of fuel.

    It is so sad, really, that if it is just one woman seeking vengeance she has the ability to rally a bunch of angry people into some kind of mob in what seems to be a perverted sense of justice.

    This is just yet another reason to hide from the interwebs. My own crazy world of one is more than enough for me. :)

    • Oh shut yo mouth Rachel. Plus the person that commented would have to pay me to come up with awesome, that is not how I roll. No freebies — ;)

      I’m sorry about the team banners maybe we can stick a baby Fiktshun on the bottom of them or something. Yo this bitch is the property of the awesome Rachel…step off.

      I’ve had designs outright stolen, copied, mocked and used as “inspiration”, I’ve also had my review plagiarized on a few occasions. They both hurt pretty bad…

      That is why all these people running these tour companies that started quickly scares me with some of the stuff they are doing. Just because they have experience blogging, doesn’t mean they have a good business sense. And they are running these tours for indie authors who don’t have backing of big publishers. When doing these, I like to use Dreamstime, they have more “loose” restrictions. But, really they are restricted to imprints of 10K plus. Unlimited web usage…so you won’t really run into a problem as far as web posts or design.

      Who informed you about the Getty image? You should be able to post it anywhere you want…if you bought the rights and if someone steals it – that is not your fault! WTF was that? That is not correct. That is some kind of scare tactic…why would you buy a stock image then? Did it say print only on the restrictions, or no web use in the restrictions?

      As far as celebs — usually the images in stock sites have Editorial use only…meaning you can’t use their images to sell your content. BUT–you can use it to editorialize. Blog posts about that person — or “unauthorized” biographies. That sort of thing. Again slippery slope. When I design book covers, which I have with images of politicians we usually call the stock site and get their express permission. Better safe then sorry.

      I am so very sorry about you being heartbroken, I hope this helped, I wrote this because of the recent trouble we have both have had. Unfortunately I don’t think this post will help in those situations. But, it is what it is and there is no end to angry people with hidden agendas. I think lately people have been very angry, I don’t know if it is state of the world, or the state of their own personal lives. I think it’s showing in odd places like this STGRB site and to how we are treating each other. I do believe that we can’t let it bother us, especially if we have good intentions. Can’t let the angry win right? Then how worse will the world be? If we let voices like them overshadow the good and push us from what we love it will be one more dark spot. I don’t like dark spots, at least not in my bubble.

      • Yes that’s true. They’d have to pay you. But it’d be SO worth it, because then they’d have a piece of your awesome. :)

        The team banner stuff makes me grumble but the intent behind people grabbing them I think is simply ignorance that they aren’t free, since other people offer them for free. It irks me but it doesn’t kill me. Not like that other thing.

        I believe it about the designs, because they’re amazing. And it totally sucks! I can’t even imagine what it feels like to be an artist whose work is stolen like that.

        Review plagiarism sucks too, especially when you see people reaping rewards from your efforts.

        Yeah unless your image goes up on a big site that gets thousands of hits a day you pretty much don’t have the worry factor as far as usage rights.

        But as far as Getty – it was in the contract I digitally signed/agreed to. They impress upon you that it is your responsibility to protect the image and if it’s used in a way that you didn’t intend by someone else, you as the license holder could be held liable.

        It just wasn’t worth it to me.

        As far as celebs though when getting the images from authors I wonder where they got them, and since the celebs aren’t being editorialized just dream casted I wonder if there could be an issue. I play it safe and now won’t do dream cast posts on the site.

        It was an awesome thing to see this morning, Rachel. TYSM. I’m trying so hard to move past it and not “out” the person with my stuff or stoop to their level of nastiness. But some mornings I wake up and want to design a little “billboard” and post it on my tumblr – XXX is a THIEF!

        People have been so angry lately and they clearly enjoy spreading their anger. It doesn’t make for a happy bookish community. It seems to only be getting worse and worse. I had hoped for change in 2013, sadly this reminded me it’s not going to happen soon.

        And I LOVE this: “Can’t let the angry win right? Then how worse will the world be? If we let voices like them overshadow the good and push us from what we love it will be one more dark spot. I don’t like dark spots, at least not in my bubble.” What a gorgeous sentiment.

        I have to try and remember that. And just get myself back on your waiting list… :)

  8. Great post! Your blog has some great words of wisdom for someone such as myself who is just starting out in the bloggy universe. Thanks!

    • Good luck with starting out. It’s not all scary is it?

  9. awesome post again :) You kick butt with all that info.

    • Thanks Jules! Saw my fluffy unicorn just for you?

  10. This is an important topic. Image stealing is running a muck. I have seen photos that I have paid for that are being used by other people on the net. I can tell when they have not bought the image, as it sometimes has the creators background or even the WATERMARK! Now, I understand that there are a lot of people that just are not informed on this issue, but when it still has the watermark…really?
    Regarding the plagiarizer, I think that it is a reminder that co-blogging is a risk. Of course there are situations where things work out nicely and blogging fun is enhanced by sharing the experience with another, however, the decision can not be taken lightly, and it is important that some research time is invested when choosing someone to write on your blog.
    Again, great post. Thank you for keeping us all informed.

    • Exactly! Muck all over the place. I compare this to plagiarism, but I’m wrong, because while still a violation of copyright, the intent is different, so the thoughts are different. These bloggers aren’t claiming that the artwork or photography is theirs…they are just posting it like it is. Difference in intent, but still not correct. As far as ones with watermark — I have seen a blogger using a header with a watermark on it. I was completely flabbergasted…guess she thought it was part of the design *rolls eyes*

      I would be devastated if that happened to me with a co-blogger. I agree with you that it is always very important to make careful decisions when blogging. What people don’t realize is that we have a hobby, but that hobby is attached to people trying to make a living and others that are trying to break into publishing. They take things like this very seriously. It’s not just “playing around” for most. Thank you for commenting. I appreciate it.

      • Academically, plagiarism is plagiarism regardless of the intent. Granted, individual copyright holders may be more lenient about it, but most colleges/universities will expel a student.

        So it’s good you put the image copyright information here, since a lot of people don’t realize what is and isn’t legally available to use without permission.

  11. Another very informational post! Thank You!

  12. Very informative post and so timely – in the Netherlands, where I reside, we had an issue with a blog that used author photographs (they copied them from publisher’s websites). They were billed over $1000 for 3 or 4 pictures – after they ignored warnings from the photographer to take the pics down. Note that the photographer was totally in her rights, she didn’t even legally have to warn the blog owners in advance before sending a bill.

    • Oh that is a shame, considering that we use author photographs all the time, mostly delivered by the publishers or tour hosts. How scary is that!

  13. I actually had no idea that images that I find on google images aren’t ‘free’ to use… good thing I hardly ever use images in my blog-posts, apart from the cover for the book.

    I guess I need to find the time to educate myself on this as well. At least the banner I have, plus my little avatar are ‘home-made’ as is my signature.

    Thanks so much for always being on top of everything, and sharing your knowledge with us.

    I haven’t been to the STGRB since last summer, but I am kind of glad it has now been proven who is behind it. Especially because at least back then, the commenters were all denying any of them were authors…

    • Yep – Google’s image search is really just like the regular web search, except instead of providing a list of links to websites related to the search terms, it gives you a bunch of images whose descriptions somehow match your search terms.

      I think this is something a lot of people don’t realize – I probably wouldn’t have thought about it either, except at my university some of the professors require students to take a plagiarism quiz at the beginning of the semester. XD

  14. GREAT post. !! I will be giving a blogging presentation at my library soon, and I’m going to be mentioning copyright —- so if it’s ok with you, I’m going to include a link to this post, so that anyone who is interested can read it, and get all the info — which is presented clearly. :)

  15. Thanks for this great post! http://www.creativecommons.org is good site if you need to find a stuff you can use. Still, I’m playing it safe and use only pictures I have taken myself (except book covers). In creative commons you can also license your work. I have put the widget to my blog so everyone will know not to use my pictures without permission :)

  16. Stealing your copyright image like… AS WE SPEAK. because its made of awesome sauce and basically wrapped in a “take me home” bow. ;) I mean, that’s totally what I got out of this post.

    (For anyone who doesn’t know me… I’m kidding.)

    Anyway… SERIOUSLY BADASS POST dude! I had no idea all the shit hit the fan with the STGRB!!!!

  17. WOW! Lots to talk about today!

    In my *day* job I make a lot of graphics so I get this whole don’t steal my images thing. And I really appreciate those people who release their images to places like Wikipedia as art of the public domain (Warning: Just because it’s on Wikipedia doesn’t mean it’s in the PD! Gotta check!). I use a lot of one certain artist’s stuff because she makes science diagrams and she puts everything in the PD. (I think I might love her.)

    There are a lot of places to find PD images, but it takes time and effort. These days I have a running credit with a stock art site because it’s just easier.

    As far as book bloggers behaving badly: Yeah – if you want to be a book blogger you have to want to read and review books. What’s the point of having a book blog if you don’t write your own reviews? I don’t get it.

    And as for authors behaving badly: – I do get it – some reviewers are nasty and bad reviews suck. Ignore them and move one. Write another book. Or don’t. But if you want to be a writer you better grow some skin because not everyone is gonna like your book.

  18. Very informative post Rachel, I’m learning so much! Thanks for taking the time to write these posts, they really make a difference!

  19. SUCH A GOOD POST. I used to post images from google search and tumblr on my blog for character posts – but thank goodness I realized that it was illegal! And I’d heard of STGRB before, but I’ve never been to their site or whatever it is. (well that’s a lie.- I just googled it) and I’m not sure I understand…. but I’m okay with that.

    Anyways… I’ll say it again – but GREAT POST. (: I love your Book Blogging 101 posts.

  20. AWWW Rachel – you did it again! Anytime I get asked a question about blogging, I ask them if they checked out your blogging 101 posts or just send them a link since you cover everything much better than I could ever do.

    • Thanks Mary, that was the best compliment ever. :D

  21. STGRB makes me so mad, I literally almost froth at the mouth. Simply out of principal.

    • I know. They are like that old guy on the block that screams at all the kids and you just want to spray him with the hose but you know he’ll call the police or egg your house… grrr.

  22. Awesome post, Rachel!

    There’s one thing I just don’t get. Why would you copy someone else’s review? Or several someones? I thought the main reason behind blogging about books was to state your own, personal opinion. Right? Right? *panics* That’s how I do it, at least. It’s not like you have to write an essay on the metaphors within the book, it’s simply your opinion.

    As for the pictures…I have to admit, I’m actually scared of using ANY images right now. Either I take my own or design them or stuff. Other than that, I’d rather not use any images. I’ve heard cases where even if the blogger took down the images or gave credit to the owner, they got sued. *scary*

  23. LOVE this post. Thank you for informing everyone about the copyright issues. It is so great you write all these posts Rachel.

    I’ve had graphics stolen from me as well. All that hard work and someone just took it and claimed it was their own. Karma will work its way towards them is all I have to say.

    “Former book blogger K.K. gets the dumbest criminal award for this one.”

    BAHAHAAH straight to the point aren’t you? Love your tenacity :P

  24. Fantastic post, as always! I like that you point out the tour stuff. I have one author who I do publicity for who provided images and I asked her to be sure to get all the credits and stuff. She uses photo pin and its suppose to be safe as long as we use the credits. Have you used that site? It has a lot of great images. Anyway, I still tell the bloggers that its their choice whether they include the images but I provide them with everything they should and can double check. I still hesitate to use images other than covers and author photos.
    Thanks for the news update. I was clueless about all of it!

  25. I don’t get the whole STGRB/Dark Net thing. I’d love to copyright my content, but have no idea how to do it!

  26. I love this, I would feel really upset if someone took a picture I had drawn and used it on their website without permission..everything I have used I have gotten from a stock photography website that allows free use. They are really easy to find I don’t know why people don’t use them more often!

  27. I have said this before.. but I LOVE these posts! I have even created a folder in my gmail just for these posts.. when I get the emails I always save them there to look back on! This is a subject that has started to concern me. I never thought of myself as stealing pics, but now not so sure! I have rolling widgets showcasing my fave blogs and linking back to them, using the grab my button links I’ve found on blogs.. Pretty sure that’s ok. But for my own buttons, I think I just got the images off of google image search and did what I wanted with them. I don’t necessarily think they were from blogs, but now I’m thinking I should check to be sure! I have never searched blog related things for images, just random images.. still, I think I should check into it further!
    I have an account on deviant art.. LOVE that site. I have gotten permission from an artist to use her pics on my blogs. They were just pictures I loved too much not to use. Both of them are linked back to her and I got her permission first. They also have loads of free images! I would love to know what other sites I could use for free images to alter for my blog buttons, though.
    As always, thanks for the great info and advice! Keep it up!

    • I also use images of the book covers when I’m writing a post. I usually get it from Goodreads, sometimes Amazon. Is this ok?? I usually have amazon buy links and Goodreads links for the books as well…

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