Blogger Beware - What You Need to Know about Using Images on Your Blog
June 06, 2018
Images are a great way to draw attention to your blog post and give it some pizzazz! Who doesn’t like to look at pretty pictures? Sometimes we may want to use an image that we may not have in our personal photo folder. It’s so easy to do a Google search and just grab one that’s appealing from the results right? Wrong! Allow us to help you avoid any potential issues using unauthorized images.
Did You Get Permission?
Just because an image is uploaded to the internet does not mean it is free for you to use. Giving credit to the photographer with a link back does NOT validate the use. It also does not matter if you are not making any money from your blog.
The individual who took that image owns the copyright of it and can request the image be removed from a website if it is used without their permission. Unless you received permission from the owner, do not use it. If someone contacts Typepad with a valid DMCA report stating that their image is being used on a Typepad blog without permission, we are required to remove that image.
What If I Am Asked To Take Down an Image?
You may receive an email from the owner of the image, or an agency representing them, asking to remove the image immediately. Do not argue or explain why you used the image, just remove the picture from the blog post in question. You may also need to contact Typepad Support to remove the image from the server. You can do this by opening a Help Ticket.
Where Can I Get Images That Are Free To Use?
A good place to start is Creative Commons. Since 2001, Creative Commons has issued CC licenses free of charge and is devoted to expanding the range of creative works available for others to build upon legally and to share. You can use their search tool and they will pull up free license images from all over the internet that you can use without repercussion.
Another favorite is Unsplash where you will find a collection of beautiful, free images and it is constantly updated. You can sign up to have new collections sent directly to your inbox.
Pixabay is a vibrant community of creatives, sharing copyright free images and videos. All contents are released under Creative Commons CC0, which makes them safe to use without asking for permission or giving credit to the artist - even for commercial purposes.
There are many more "royalty free" and free stock images available right at your fingertips online that are safe to use without penalty or copyright violations. Share your favorites with us today!
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