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Need help with Legal Question

by flowers4love
5 replies
I have a legal question about copyright and I would very much appreciate your advice. I know Wikipedia is an open resource which can be used free of charge by the general public. Wikipedia has it's own collection of graphics. Is it legal to download graphics from Wikipedia and use it in a private or even commercial blog?
#legal #question
  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    Few people in this forum are attorneys. We are not licensed to practice law in any state or country in the world.

    If you want true legal advice, hire an attorney.

    I would reference the Wikipedia TOS to make a determination if you can or cannot use their material for profit.

    People do it all the time, but I would never do it.

    I don't know their TOS or if they even own all of the images they use.

    But I am always careful to not offend copyright laws anywhere, because I want people to respect my copyrights as well.
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  • Profile picture of the author rohnsmith
    see it depends on the kind of images you are taking from. I mean you cannot consider images in wikipedia can be free becaus it may possible that the owner has given rights to Wikipedia but not all users who download the images..
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  • Profile picture of the author flowers4love
    Thank you, tpw and rohnsmith, for taking the time to read this post and answer me. I'm relatively new here and I have seen on several threads that Warrior members are extremely kind to offer their help and advice for people like myself. Indeed, I have avoided using Wikipedia graphics on my blogs because I'm very careful not to offend copyright laws. Your answers have confirmed that I'm right.
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  • Profile picture of the author tpw
    I get images at Fotolio.com for usually $1-$3 per image. They are selling me the legal right to use those images in whatever manner I so choose to do.
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  • Profile picture of the author Ruka
    Hello flowers4love :0)

    I am not a lawyer, but ...

    I do not think it would be OK to use the wiki images.

    In some cases people will let you use their images if you link back to their site, but you need to check their terms or ask them directly.

    The most risk free way to get images is to pay for them, eg. at istockphoto.com, or to search the net for "royalty free images"

    hope this helps!
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