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Copyright and legal issues

by hedonistic
11 replies
Hey everyone,

I have a few questions regarding the legalities in using images and videos on blogs/ affiliate sites.

So I read a few articles on how a few bloggers got sued by photographers for using their photos for thousands of dollars (3-8k to be exact). And I'm sure no one ever wants to be in that position. So a solution I found was to get creative commons pictures or take photos yourself. The question I have is if you use a creative commons photo from say flickr, is it ok to have affilite links on your website/ Adsense? And you would have to state the copyright to the original owner under the picture, yes?

Furthermore, you see a lot of people and marketers using social media very effectively to grow pages and create backlinks for their sites. They use memes, pictures, quotes, youtube videos etc. What are the legalities concerning this? Can you get sued by doing this? I mean, sharing and re-sharing images is the whole point of sites like Tumblr...

I'm new to affiliate marketing so some of this stuff is confusing, can someone help me out? And if you have any other advice on how to stay safe legally that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks so much guys! Looking forward to contributing as I become more experienced.
#copyright #issues #legal
  • Profile picture of the author Will Edwards
    I will prefix my answer with the usual caveat i.e. I am not a lawyer and this is not legal advice.

    That said ...

    Originally Posted by hedonistic View Post

    So a solution I found was to get creative commons pictures ...
    Yes - good solution.

    ... or take photos yourself.
    Amazingly, you still have to be very careful. Look up 'Model Release' and 'Property Release' - Google those terms. Essentially, if you take a photo of a person or property, you could still face legal action without proper permission being granted. It is not always required, but if the person or property (this even includes pets!) is the main subject of the photo, and you use it without the correct 'release' you could (not will, but could) be in legal trouble.

    The question I have is if you use a creative commons photo from say flickr, is it ok to have affilite links on your website/ Adsense?
    Yes.

    And you would have to state the copyright to the original owner under the picture, yes?
    Yes. You could also link to the relevant Creative Commons licence.

    Furthermore, you see a lot of people and marketers using social media very effectively to grow pages and create backlinks for their sites. They use memes, pictures, quotes, youtube videos etc. What are the legalities concerning this?
    Quite a lot in there ^ however, sites like YouTube that provide embed code would most likely be the target of any legal issues should they arise. Sometimes videos are taken down on YouTube for these reasons and they effectively disappear from sites using the embed code (you actually see a message to the effect that the video is no longer available). Like many others, I have no issues using YouTube videos.

    Can you get sued by doing this? I mean, sharing and re-sharing images is the whole point of sites like Tumblr...
    You can never say 'never' but you have the right attitude. You just need to read and digest the terms of the sites you are using to provide content and ensure you stick within the guidelines.

    Good luck.

    Will
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  • Profile picture of the author hedonistic
    Thanks Will. Sigh, there are so many technicalities you have to overcome when setting up sites huh? I'll have to be very careful. Cheers for the info.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mark Singletary
    Regarding Creative Commons licenses, it may be helpful to view the information from the source About The Licenses - Creative Commons because assuming things may be a fast track to trouble.

    For example, some of the licenses forbid use for commercial purposes. So you'll have to decide if affiliate links are commercial or not. My opinion is that they are commercial but then that's just me.

    There are other potential gotchas you may want to check out too.

    Mark
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  • Profile picture of the author hedonistic
    Yeah I agree Mark, thanks for the reply.

    Also, on some affiliate sites (e.g. thisiswhyimbroke.com - not my site, just an example), they have lots of product pictures taken from Amazon and affiliate sites of the like. Would they have got permission from Amazon/ the creators? Or is it that since Amazon/ the creators are also profiting it's ok to do so?
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    • Profile picture of the author kindsvater
      Originally Posted by hedonistic View Post

      Would they have got permission from Amazon/ the creators? Or is it that since Amazon/ the creators are also profiting it's ok to do so?
      Yes, then no.

      Yes, as an affiliate there is a license from Amazon to use the pictures.

      No, just because you think someone else might profit does not give justification for using their pictures.

      .
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  • Profile picture of the author onSubie
    Originally Posted by hedonistic View Post

    Furthermore, you see a lot of people and marketers using social media very effectively to grow pages and create backlinks for their sites. They use memes, pictures, quotes, youtube videos etc. What are the legalities concerning this? Can you get sued by doing this? I mean, sharing and re-sharing images is the whole point of sites like Tumblr...
    As with everything in this area it depends on specifics, but a lot of memes and posters made from otherwise copyright pictures are protected from copyright violation by the provisions for parody and satire.

    This is not necessarily a protection from being sued as many copyright owners don't care that you were using their work as satire but it is often a valid defence in court.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ord Allenbea
    Easy and simple solution - Don't claim the copyrights! Give credit where credit is due. I own some gaming sites and have even written several online game strategy guides. I give credit to the copyright owners - ie: Wartune titles, logos, images, and game are copyrighted to Wartune.com and R2Games Entertainment Inc.

    I then take it a step further and have at the bottom of my website the following:

    Disclaimer: This site and the products and services offered on this site are not associated, affiliated, endorsed, or sponsored by wartune, r2games, proficientcity, nor have they been reviewed, tested or certified by wartune, r2games, proficientcity.

    As post #2 says I am not a lawyer but the above does protect me because the fact is I am not claiming to be the company nor am I claiming any of their copyrights.
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    • Profile picture of the author AnnaPaterson
      In order to get sewed you have to use a picture that has copyright, for which you do not have permission to use it.
      I had once a site, created by somebody else, with 2 random pictures taken from a google search. after many years i received a complaint of having those pictures, which belonged to a database of pictures. they were asking me to pay a 300 $ fee. I never payed the fee and nothing happened. i guess i was lucky. I am not recommending my approach. unfortunately the internet is full of scams
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    • Profile picture of the author onSubie
      Originally Posted by Ord Allenbea View Post

      As post #2 says I am not a lawyer but the above does protect me because the fact is I am not claiming to be the company nor am I claiming any of their copyrights.
      That doesn't protect you legally unless you have permission from the copyright/trademark owner.

      It is not a defence in court to say "I have a disclaimer at the bottom stating the images/logos are stolen"... I mean "used without permission".

      You can use/quote some copyright material for news/reviews you can also use it for parody/satire.

      That's how porn companies get away with blatant xxx rip-offs of famous movies - parody.

      For your site, you are more likely protected as a news/review site than by any disclaimer you publish.

      But until you get a CnD or DMCA notice you won't really know. Many people think they are protected when actually they are just being ignored.
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  • Profile picture of the author hedonistic
    Thanks for the replies everyone. I will have to do more research into this, I never expected it to be such a big issue.

    If I may ask, what does everyone else do to get around copyright issues for using images on their sites?
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  • Profile picture of the author Robert King
    In my opinion it's worth investing in stock photography rather than run the gauntlet of potential copyright infringement or even creative commons infringement.

    Many CC licenses forbid commercial use, obviously if you're blogging about a product with an affiliate link that's tantamount to using the image in an ad, which is of course commercial use.

    I saw one IM product today which actually has a built in tool for ripping images from Google images for use in articles, this is obviously a path to disaster if someone sues you for using their image.
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