Attn Bloggers: You CAN get sued for using other peoples photos

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Mareli over at Ambra Photography shared a very interesting blog post that originated from Roni Loren’s website.

I try not to use other people’s photos and if and when I ever do (did) I give them credit in the article… not anymore after reading this post. I have updated all my posts that had any other picture to now represent a picture from Microsoft Word, mostly cute clip art.

Read on more for her story here. 

23 thoughts on “Attn Bloggers: You CAN get sued for using other peoples photos”

  1. Interesting post there! What Roni Loren has to say is both good advice and correct in common sense terms because, unfortunately, it’s not always made clear where a photo comes from and who has the copyright and IP rights over the image. And there are always people who do assume everything on the internet is free. Or should be.

    However, I don’t think everyone needs to remove *every* single photo from their blog if it’s possible to trace back where the original is from and if it has been clearly released under a Creative Commons License. I do try to be cautious about this, but I think a general guideline should be if you are in any doubts about the image, and know who the photographer/illustrator/designer is, email them to ask if you can use the image. Not everyone automatically says no if you politely ask. I wouldn’t if someone wanted to use mine for non-commercial purposes.

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    • I agree! The ones (few) I had I found off google images, so I am sure that multiple people has used them as well and I always give credit back to the person. Unfortunately she is right though, you just never know. It’s kind of scary. I certainly don’t assume that its free and that is why if I do I allways give them credit via text, as well as a link to the place I got it, if I can find it. But that’s probably not right either, and someone could get mad. I only had to remove a few 😉 so I will just be more mindful. And honestly most peoples blogs that I follow IF they use other photos its also just a few as well. Just thought it was a good post to share, to make us all think. Thanks for commenting and visiting

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      • Oh it absolutely is a good idea to share it! I’m sorry, I sounded mean on the assumption thing, because that does happen, but I do think for bloggers it’s more that people want to share the things they love and are inspirational and no harm is meant at all.

        It’s a tricky subject, and it’s better to be safe than sorry. I hope that for others who perhaps don’t really know what the best thing to do is: just ask! Even professional photographers don’t mind having fans of their work! 🙂

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      • I agree! You were not mean you had good points! 🙂 It’s an age old saying and you are absolutely right, better to be safe than sorry! and sure! we dont need to take down every picture, I kept a few but you just never know. :/

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  3. Thank you for sharing this. I have a couple images I used but gave credit for and now I know I need to go back and remove them. I thought so long as you have credit it was ok, but now that I’m thinking about it- obviously that was not the smartest thought I’ve had. Incidentally I have recently been finding instagram accts that have stolen mine and some of my blogger friends’ pics. It’s really infuriating to me so this came at a very opportune time.

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    • You are very welcome! I couldnt agree more. Thats why i always have my watermark but its still like y didnt u just ask. Yet i had a few i didnt… So i said ut oh. And i certisnly dont want to be sued!!!!

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  4. Great post share Amanda. Thank you! This is such an interesting topic, and a very important one. Thankfully I only have but a few photos not my own, but I will have to go back and fix things.

    Coming from both sides, the thought of someone using my photos (blog or other) without asking has always annoyed me. So I can understand from that perspective. I often feel frustrated with Facebook and the problems tagging people can create. Everyone and their cat can see, comment, copy your personal photos.

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    • I agree with both sides too, I certainly don’t want to get sued either way!! I only had a few as well and took them down, just in case! 😉 You are welcome for sharing, glad you felt it interesting 🙂

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  6. Although that is an unfortunate situation. I for one appreciate that you shared this and as you can see above, I reblogged this in order to spare other bloggers from suffering similar consequences. I have since removed the only two pictures I’ve featured on my site that did not belong to me.

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  7. I understand bout taking from others and not giving them the credit. What about reblogging? I know the blogs I follow even yours I have reblogged something cause it was interesting and wanted to share it with my readers. Is that the same thing?

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  8. That’s horrible to have to go through. As you know, my inspirational posts usually don’t have any sources etc. because they are very hard to find. Laws in The Netherlands really are different regarding these topics because a lot of the points from the ‘it doesn’t matter’ list, do matter over here. I know because I had to learn a lot about them in school. It’s so weird to see that other countries really aren’t that well known about how people use pictures they see as ‘Fair Use’.

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  9. Well, I am in NO WAY about to give legal advice here. I’m not a lawyer yet, although I swear I’ve taken enough exams (and paid enough $$) that they should just hand over that J.D. to me this instant. Nor am I a copyright expert.

    Alas, this whole copyright thing should not worry everyone as much. Yes, please give appropriate credit or say where you got your image from. And as much as you can, take your own pics or use pics in the public domain. And if you are given a notice to take down the “violations”, do so immediately.

    Yes, the idea of being sued is scary and it can be serious if you are a serious violator of copyright laws. But for the average blogger, from the “reasonable person” perspective they always talk about in law school, I think copyright issues are less of an issue, than say, bloggers who don’t disclose whether or not a product they are reviewing is biased or not.

    With respect to reblogging, if the blogger enables that feature, it is safe to say that the blogger is ok with you reblogging their post. After all, it’s free press for us!

    AGAIN, THIS IS NOT LEGAL ADVICE, JUST MY OBSERVATIONS AND OPINIONS. Happy blogging everyone!

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