Images & Graphics 101 for Bloggers

Image Do’s & Don’t

{mostly don’ts}

@BillieHillier

Disclosure

• I am not an intellectual property / copyright attorney…

• Or a general attorney…

• Or trying to give anyone legal advice…

• But what I “know” from experience is…

This old adage is WRONG in the photo world!

It is better to ask for forgiveness…

…than to ask for permission

Images Not Your Own

• Using first & asking for permission later IS NOT the way to go

• Ask permission first always – tell the owner• WHO you are

• WHAT appeals to you about their image

• HOW their image(s) will be used

• WHERE they will placed

• WHY you want them

TIP: I use a special Gmail account just for images to keep permissions saved

Images

• Use your own when you can

• Be sure to read the terms of use for each photos if not yours

TIP: I keep a list of photos and where I got them from for future reference

Images Not Your Own

• 150 x 150 is the size to use without permission aka “thumbnail”

• Giving credit in the article to the source IS NOT ENOUGH

• Giving a link back to the source IS NOT ENOUGH

• Ooops… I didn’t‘ know IS NOT ENOUGH

• Removing the images once you get the letter IS NOT ENOUGH

A Costly Mistake

• 3 images cost $5,000 {paid to iStockPhoto}

• 1 image cost $7,000 {negotiated down and paid to individual owner}

• “I didn’t know better” has the potential to cost you $1,000’s

Images Sources

• Creative Commons

• DreamsTime

• iClipArt

• iStockPhotos

• Microsoft Images

• Morgue File

• … and the list goes on and on

HOTLINKINGYOU WILL BE BRANDED AS A THIEF

• EASIEST WAY TO PI$$ SOMEONE OFF FAST!

• Image is hosted on owner’s server but appears within your article

• You are “stealing” their image

• You are “stealing” their bandwidth

Hot Linking

• Change options in your cPanel to prevent hot linking

• Do a Google Image Search to find if someone is stealing your images

• Replace photo with something fun if they don’t remove

• Right click protection really doesn’t work… I can steal your photos if I want them

BillieHillier.com

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