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Why do some sites that clearly make a lot of money..

by Capbell
30 replies
I've recently been discovering loads of good websites that are making a good amount of money off advertising (buysellads info), but they are using countless highly-likely-copyrighted photographs on their websites.

With articles like "top ten actress clothes blunders" and "coolest house designs", where they have loads of photographs that are obviously taken from the internet.

I don't get why so many people do this. Sure, they might be making decent money, but the moment a photographer realises they are using one of their pics and profited from it they will get sued and lose most of the money they made?
#lot #make #money #sites
  • Profile picture of the author TheSalesBooster
    The real answer?

    The likelihood of being sued over a photo on the internet is pretty slim. Most people will credit sources where they got the photo and include a link. That is usually enough to keep the original content owners happy, but if they don't want their content on your site they will send you a DMCA.

    If you fail to comply with the DMCA, then there is a good chance you could be sued.

    Just don't do anything stupid and abuse or claim to own other people's content and do a courtesy of disclosing where you got the content and most people won't have a problem.
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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    A lot of people seem to think the Internet world is much different to the real world and that laws on the Internet don't count.

    A lot of those same people usually find out the reality the hard way.

    You can find people doing illegal things all over the Internet. Why? In a lot of cases they get away with it. Is that a reason to do it though?
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    • Profile picture of the author TheSalesBooster
      Originally Posted by WillR View Post

      A lot of people seem to think the Internet world is much different to the real world and that laws on the Internet don't count.

      A lot of those same people usually find out the reality the hard way.

      You can find people doing illegal things all over the Internet. Why? In a lot of cases they get away with it. Is that a reason to do it though?
      The irony in this post is amazing.

      If you look at your own sig, you are selling a product related to wordpress and you have the wordpress logo slapped all over your product.

      Do you have permission from wordpress to use their logo on your product?
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      • Profile picture of the author WillR
        Originally Posted by TheSalesBooster View Post

        The irony in this post is amazing.

        If you look at your own sig, you are selling a product related to wordpress and you have the wordpress logo slapped all over your product.

        Do you have permission from wordpress to use their logo on your product?
        Yes, I do, but thanks for asking.
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        • Profile picture of the author TheSalesBooster
          Originally Posted by WillR View Post

          Yes, I do, but thanks for asking.
          Hmm yes I'm sure.

          Don't worry I don't care. It's just to prove a point to all the people who don't like to practice what they preach.
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          • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
            Banned
            Originally Posted by TheSalesBooster View Post

            Hmm yes I'm sure.

            Don't worry I don't care. It's just to prove a point to all the people who don't like to practice what they preach.
            Wordpress makes it very easy to use their trademark for non-commercial and commercial use. From their trademark page. He is not using the word "Wordpress" in his product name, or domain, etc. Wordpress does not own WP as a trademark. In fact, lots of other people in other categories (outside of plugins or software) DO own the trademark WP.

            All other WordPress-related businesses or projects can use the WordPress name and logo to refer to and explain their services, but they cannot use them as part of a product, project, service, domain, or company name and they cannot use them in any way that suggests an affiliation with or endorsement by the WordPress Foundation or the WordPress open source project. For example, a consulting company can describe its business as “123 Web Services, offering WordPress consulting for small businesses,” but cannot call its business “The WordPress Consulting Company.” Similarly, a business related to WordPress themes can describe itself as “XYZ Themes, the world’s best WordPress themes,” but cannot call itself “The WordPress Theme Portal.”

            Similarly, it’s OK to use the WordPress or WordCamp logo as part of a page that describes your products or services, but it is not OK to use it as part of your company or product logo or branding itself. Under no circumstances is it permitted to use WordPress or WordCamp as part of a top-level domain name.
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  • Profile picture of the author sparrow
    the internet is all about pushing the envelope

    if you are not aggressive you stand to be left behind

    most of these things you see are short lived so the chances they take outweigh the downside these days
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  • Profile picture of the author Capbell
    You're all right, people just take unnecessary risks on the internet that they wouldn't take in real life.

    Here is an interesting read of a blogger who got sued: Bloggers Beware: You CAN Get Sued For Using Pics on Your Blog - My*Story - Blog - Roni Loren, Romance Author

    She got a DMCA. complied within minutes but the photographer still demanded compensation. So even putting a disclaimer and crediting might not put off everyone. If you are going to credit people, surely it takes less than 1 minute to send them a quick email asking for permission beforehand? They will more than likely agree, and if they don't, then you had no business putting it up anyway!
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    • Profile picture of the author Richard Van
      Originally Posted by TheSalesBooster View Post

      The irony in this post is amazing.

      If you look at your own sig, you are selling a product related to wordpress and you have the wordpress logo slapped all over your product.

      Do you have permission from wordpress to use their logo on your product?
      Originally Posted by TheSalesBooster View Post

      Hmm yes I'm sure.

      Don't worry I don't care. It's just to prove a point to all the people who don't like to practice what they preach.
      I think you care quite a bit.

      You don't accuse someone with no evidence, then say "hmmm, yes I'm sure" (Loosely translated as "BS") and then make it into a practise what you preach post.

      I'd say, reading what you wrote, that you care a great deal.

      I'd also be prepared to apologise if Will happens to show you proof.

      Also, Capbell, do you know for sure they're stolen images? Below are some links to BigStock photos. You'd think images of Mike Tyson or David Beckham would be copyrighted and no doubt many are. Below however are legit images you can buy from BigStock....

      David Beckham Images, Stock Photos & Illustrations | Bigstock
      Mike Tyson Images, Stock Photos & Illustrations | Bigstock

      I'm not saying they have permission, I'm just saying is there any proof they haven't?
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      • Profile picture of the author TheSalesBooster
        Originally Posted by Richard Van View Post

        I think you care quite a bit.

        You don't accuse someone with no evidence, then say "hmmm, yes I'm sure" (Loosely translated as "BS") and then make it into a practise what you preach post.

        I'd say, reading what you wrote, that you care a great deal.

        I'd also be prepared to apologise if Will happens to show you proof.

        Also, Capbell, do you know for sure they're stolen images? Below are some links to BigStock photos. You'd think images of Mike Tyson or David Beckham would be copyrighted and no doubt many are. Below however are legit images you can buy from BigStock....

        David Beckham Images, Stock Photos & Illustrations | Bigstock
        Mike Tyson Images, Stock Photos & Illustrations | Bigstock

        I'm not saying they have permission, I'm just saying is there any proof they haven't?
        I don't care what he uses on his products. I simply pointed out the irony in his post.

        If he does happen to have permission then more power to him, but I doubt wordpress goes around giving people permission to plaster their logo on products.

        And I doubt any WSO sellers would actively go out and seek permission from big companies to use their logos for a WSO product. It probably never crosses anyone's mind. Probably because the last thing someone wants to do is let a big company know someone is using their property to help sell a product.

        But like I said, I personally have no problem with it. I'm just pointing out the irony.
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        • Profile picture of the author Richard Van
          Originally Posted by TheSalesBooster View Post

          I don't care what he uses on his products. I simply pointed out the irony in his post.
          If it is irony.

          If he does happen to have permission then more power to him, but I doubt wordpress goes around giving people permission to plaster their logo on products.
          Except they do....see the link below.

          And I doubt any WSO sellers would actively go out and seek permission from big companies to use their logos for a WSO product.
          Perhaps, perhaps not. I don't consider all WSO sellers to be the same though.

          But like I said, I personally have no problem with it. I'm just pointing out the irony.
          Yes. Of course. If there was any irony at all.

          I'm just pointing out, you're assumptions may not be accurate...

          Only Will could settle that for you, this may help too...

          Read this...

          WordPress › About » Logos and Graphics

          It's all about logo's Wordpress lets you use, obviously there will be T&C's. There's even a support section, perhaps that's where Will asked if he could use it?

          I really don't know but I'd have thought Will would be pretty careful with something like this...and of course I may be wrong and it wouldn't exactly be a first.
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          • Profile picture of the author Istvan Horvath
            Originally Posted by Richard Van View Post

            If

            Read this...

            WordPress › About » Logos and Graphics

            It's all about logo's Wordpress lets you use, obviously there will be T&C's.
            There is: Trademark Policy | WordPress Foundation
            (and it says interesting things about commercial use - the kind nobody likes to hear)
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            • Profile picture of the author Richard Van
              Originally Posted by Istvan Horvath View Post

              There is: Trademark Policy | WordPress Foundation
              (and it says interesting things about commercial use - the kind nobody likes to hear)
              Hi Istvan,

              I did mention that there were T&C's to read.

              It's all about logo's Wordpress lets you use, obviously there will be T&C's.
              I was just pointing out to The Sales Booster, that he doesn't know for a fact that Will doesn't have permission and that WP do in fact let you use their logo for reasons that they specify.
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      • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
        Banned
        Originally Posted by Richard Van View Post

        You don't accuse someone with no evidence, then say "hmmm, yes I'm sure" (Loosely translated as "BS") and then make it into a practise what you preach post.

        I'd say, reading what you wrote, that you care a great deal.

        I'd also be prepared to apologise if Will happens to show you proof.
        This. Exactly.

        Meanwhile posts like that are perhaps "to be reported" and the moderators may take care of them? :rolleyes: :p
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  • Profile picture of the author Capbell
    Well the websites i've seen usually have a disclaimer saying that images on the website may be copyrighted, etc, etc, and they can contact them to take them down. If you have permission to use these images, you wouldn't need to have such a disclaimer.

    I just find it bizarre that there must be so many "webmasters" out there who run profitable websites and take these sorts of "risks". I take risks, but not with the law. Even more so when the law would 100% go against me if caught.
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  • Profile picture of the author writeaway
    Look up commentary / usage for example/commentary purposes under the 'fair use' exception of US copyright law. I myself wouldn't do it that way. I'd just use royalty-free pics from sxc with proper attribution.
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  • Profile picture of the author ozanK
    Instead of stealing photos, you can use 2 additional minutes of your time and find some very cool photos from Flickr. Just by linking back to the original page where you found the photo, you can easily get rid of the copyright issue.
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  • Profile picture of the author karlmay1980
    Lots of photos can be bought off photo stock image sites, even ones of celebrities etc, that is one reason that they often use similar images, not all are just stolen from another site.

    Many of the rest will also include links to where they have got images so they are giving the credit to the author.

    I would say mainly only poor websites not making much money will not do this properly although even some of those will still use good practice.
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  • Profile picture of the author TimothyTorrents
    A lot of people don't know that it is unethical to copy a picture from someone else's website. I know I used to use Google images to find images to upload to my website until I realized that the original owners of the pictures will probably not be too happy about that so I focused on creating my own pictures or just including a link back to other websites. There are thousands of websites where you can buy stock photos; if you need pictures I recommend just buying them.
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  • Profile picture of the author lotsofsnow
    Originally Posted by Capbell View Post

    I've recently been discovering loads of good websites that are making a good amount of money off advertising (buysellads info), but they are using countless highly-likely-copyrighted photographs on their websites.
    It seems like they make money.

    Robbing banks and similar criminal activities (like stealing copyrighted materials) does not pay. It might look like it gives rewards but in the end it's just not worth it.
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  • Profile picture of the author sunray
    It's totally wrong and foolish to use someone's work on a money making website without a proper license. But what raises questions is how the complainant proves that the photograph actually was there? A simple screenshot is faked very easily; Google cache is replaced after a new crawl.
    In my opinion the only way to have a legal proof is to print it out, and get this printed version notarized.
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  • Profile picture of the author Devin X
    Banned
    Originally Posted by Capbell View Post

    I've recently been discovering loads of good websites that are making a good amount of money off advertising (buysellads info)
    How do you know if the site is making lots of money? I know people with simple looking websites that make a ton of money and I know people with really impressive looking sites that make absolutely nothing.
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    • Profile picture of the author sunray
      Originally Posted by TheRealDudeman View Post

      How do you know if the site is making lots of money? I know people with simple looking websites that make a ton of money and I know people with really impressive looking sites that make absolutely nothing.
      But how do you know? The owner of the impressive website may be modest, or fearful, while the simple site that you think makes money may be just a means for money laundering (and whence the claim).
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      • Profile picture of the author Devin X
        Banned
        Originally Posted by sunray View Post

        But how do you know? The owner of the impressive website may be modest, or fearful, while the simple site that you think makes money may be just a means for money laundering (and whence the claim).
        Because I have friends and clients that I work with. I either have access to or see firsthand what they are up to and how they are faring. Ya know? I'm not just looking at a stranger's website and guessing what they're making.
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  • Profile picture of the author akif
    Why do we prolong a simple conversation into something out of the context? However i have came to know many things now

    Everyone uses someone else Pictures or Photography even the big guns!

    They always give source, credit, links etc etc so people should know who owns what!

    Photographers should be happy that people share their work. But ethically if you know whose the photographer then you should ask their permission Which most of the people don't!
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    • Profile picture of the author sbucciarel
      Banned
      Originally Posted by akif View Post

      Why do we prolong a simple conversation into something out of the context? However i have came to know many things now

      Everyone uses someone else Pictures or Photography even the big guns!

      They always give source, credit, links etc etc so people should know who owns what!

      Photographers should be happy that people share their work. But ethically if you know whose the photographer then you should ask their permission Which most of the people don't!
      Go ahead and try it with a Getty photo. I dare 'ya
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      • Profile picture of the author Richard Van
        Originally Posted by akif View Post

        Why do we prolong a simple conversation into something out of the context? However i have came to know many things now

        Everyone uses someone else Pictures or Photography even the big guns!

        They always give source, credit, links etc etc so people should know who owns what!

        Photographers should be happy that people share their work. But ethically if you know whose the photographer then you should ask their permission
        Hi Akif,

        If I took your avatar photo and used it to sell, lets say pornographic images, I guess you'd be happy I'd shared your image and ethically, as I don't know you, I don't have to ask.

        Besides, all the big guns do it and I'll give credit and let everyone know that Akif owns the photo.

        Thanks.
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  • Profile picture of the author XanBarksdale
    It's also important to note that there are different ways to use photographs. They can be used for editorials and advertising.

    Here is an example photo from iStockPhoto of President Obama:
    Barack Obama Campaign Weeks Away From Election Day | Stock Photo | iStock

    It can be used for editorial uses only...not advertising!

    So, if you have a news website and you're doing a story about the President, you can use this image. However, if you put this image on an advertisement it's not permitted.

    I just wanted to point that out since I don't think anyone else has yet.
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Originally Posted by TheSalesBooster View Post

      Hmm yes I'm sure.

      Don't worry I don't care. It's just to prove a point to all the people who don't like to practice what they preach.
      I wonder what Kevin O'Leary and ABC would think about using a screen capture image from Shark Tank as an avatar on a forum with the tag line "where we talk about making money"?

      Or do you preach copyright infringement? Perhaps you'd like to furnish proof that you have permission to use 'Mr. Wonderful's' image as your avatar?

      Talk about irony...:rolleyes:
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      • Profile picture of the author talfighel
        Originally Posted by JohnMcCabe View Post

        I wonder what Kevin O'Leary and ABC would think about using a screen capture image from Shark Tank as an avatar on a forum with the tag line "where we talk about making money"?
        Yeah, I would be scared to use that avatar of Kevin O'Leary since he loves to sue people and companies.

        I would love to see the forum moderators ban this photo from the forum.
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