Permissions for text and images

[Crys]

Did you get permission from mightymac.org to use this photo or from the Maritime Museum to use its front-page content? If not, please remove the photo and change the text, perhaps to reflect some of your own experiences at the museum.

[keith]

Originally Posted by Crys

Did you get permission from mightymac.org to use this photo or from the Maritime Museum to use its front-page content? If not, please remove the photo and change the text, perhaps to reflect some of your own experiences at the museum.

Don't worry, I'll work on getting the permission Crys is insisting on this coming Monday. Left messages for them a couple of times this last week saying we would be highlighting this thread in the Water Cooler News. As discussed with Crys, I do not believe this is something we'd get sued over...promoting them!

Nevertheless, as a rule, please give attribution at the least, and many of us need to do a better overall job of "fair use" - in which we might quote a news article for a sentence or two, then give our own synopsis of events...our own take on what we're posting about. Simply posting an entire news story from the site of a newspaper might be inviting trouble sooner or later.

This "Ask the Pro" article from OnYourMark has some good info on the use of copyright images. We'll do something similar for the use of text. Wikipedia is generally a good bet, with attribution.

Thanks for posting the info about the museum. A state employee who wrote a book on Wisconsin museums was asked on public radio in the last year if he had one "must see" museum. The Wisconsin Maritime Museum was his reply.

Regards,
Keith

[Crys]

Permission _I_ am insisting on? A) It's against our terms of service and is a bannable offense because B) it's illegal, C) It's ILLEGAL and D) IT'S ILLEGAL I will NOT be a party to it. Whether or not someone is threatening to sue us over it (which has happened in the past) is completely IRRELEVANT. Pictures, text, music, artwork, they all take time and resources to create, resources which are being stolen when the work is stolen. Whoever spent the time and resources to create the photo or text deserves to be compensated for their time and resources whenever their work is used. I will not participate in cheating other artists or writers, nor will I let it pass without comment when I see others doing so.

[keith]

[ This thread split from this thread.]

I disagree.

If using the text and images from a site were black and white illegal, illegal and illegal, Google would have no business model and the 'preview image' extensions for Firefox would be banned.

I do believe you are much more clearly correct for news articles, however.

In the case of promoting a 'Featured Site' on the other hand, I believe that - like Google - we are doing 'fair use'...moreover, we are doing a service to those we highlight in our posts by promoting them, including the work they've done to promote themselves.

I couldn't find the particular photo on the site. Others there (the one I noticed with credits) came from the Mayor's office, no doubt at taxpayer expense, to promote this Wisconsin Museum. I don't believe it is stealing to re-post that in an effort to do the same as the municipality was doing - promoting a great Wisconsin venue.

No doubt this institution covered the "time and resources to create the photo or text" on the rest of the site and paid the artists or writers...for the purpose of disseminating information about the institution. We have not cheated anyone out of their compensation, we've simply furthered the value.

You are correct, again, about giving attribution. And we need to be careful and just. Agreed.

My office is twenty feet from yours if you'd like to talk.

Regards,
Keith

[Kris10]

I explicitly state on my personal websites that my photography cannot be used without my consent, nor can it be direct linked from my site. I don't care what someone's intent is. If they have not asked to use my photo, they are violating my ownership of it.

My anger level kicks up a notch if someone is direct linking to my photos. Not only are they using them without asking, they are using my bandwidth.

I see it like this. I have a lunchbox with my name on it. You take my lunchbox without asking and put your lunch in it. Does that make it yours? Heck no. You stole it. Same goes for my photos.

Now if you asked, I'd more than likely be willing to share my lunchbox and include a brownie if you said please.

[keith]

Found out in talking with Kristen after that the image is not from the site but from another site.

Regards,
Keith

PMing about it.

[Crys]

No. The image is indeed from MightMac.org. It is someone's personal website. It is not from "another website".