Now I have to write about something that has been on my mind for a while. Quite often, when I read other people's blogs, I see that under an image it says "image borrowed from the web" or "image borrowed from Google". I don't want to be grumpy, but "the web" is a very vague place and Google is a search engine. Any image that you or I put on the internet can be found via Google. But that doesn't mean Google owns the image.
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ShareWhat do you do if you want to borrow an image?
If you find an image on Google that you want to borrow, you must first find out who owns the image. Clicking on the image and selecting "visit page" will take you to the page where it is located, and (possibly) to the rightful owner. (But note that some free images are on many pages, and that there are also some "image thieves" out there).
So what do you do if you want to "borrow" images online? I think it's a bit of a hassle, so I prefer to avoid it, but if I find an image that I absolutely want to borrow, I usually ask the owner of the image. Private individuals and bloggers often say yes, and are often delighted, if my purpose is friendly and if I give the source and link back to them.
Free images online
There are also sites that provide free images. For example, I usually borrow images from Pixabay, and sometimes from Unsplash. These sites have lots of images that are completely free. But you have to be careful, because Pixabay, for example, also advertises images from iStock, and these are images you have to pay for.
The image banks state how the images may be used and whether you have to write some kind of source when using them. Sometimes you don't need to give any information at all, but often I still write that the photos are from Pixabay, for example, mostly to be clear to the readers that it is not our own photo.
Do you have any other good tips on where to find free images?
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Ditte says:
I completely agree with you! This picture thing is difficult and I almost only use the ones I have taken myself or been allowed to use.
Unfortunately, I don't really know where to find "free pictures" on the web because the copyright issue is quite tricky. But I will think about it...
23 October 2013 - 22:22
Micaela Janatuinen says:
I usually do as you do, try to link back to as exact a page as possible, unfortunately it's not always possible but then it feels like you've tried anyway 🙂 ).
23 October 2013 - 22:48
admin says:
Ditte, we also mostly use our own photos... then you know you're on the safe side! But sometimes you may need something else...
Micaela, of course I usually try to link to the right page, but then you have to know that you can show the picture too... it's not enough just to link.
24 October 2013 - 6:08
BP says:
I almost always use my own photos. Sometimes I steal football pictures from Aftonbladet, and then I indicate the source. Wikimedia and Newspress are safe sources where you can legally borrow images. Even there, the source must be mentioned. IStockphoto is another site where you can download images free of charge.
Citing Google as a source is just plain stupid.
24 October 2013 - 8:04
Maggan and Ingemar says:
This is a question that I have also had. Now I rarely use other images from the web, mostly cartoons. Maybe because I think it's a bit cumbersome to both ask and link to the card. But when it comes to cartoon images, I usually link to the author. My thought is probably that if I don't want anyone to use/borrow my pictures, I shouldn't put them on the web, then they can stay in the photo albums or the camera.
24 October 2013 - 8:30
Lars Permeln says:
In most cases, I use my own suitable images, but when the going gets tough, I get a few from Fotoakuten where there are free images.
http://www.fotoakuten.se
24 October 2013 - 9:04
s p i n d e l t j e j e n (mummy life, photography, travelling and stuff like that) says:
I usually add images from the web via URL so that they don't get the address of my blog but of the web where it is located.
And then I usually write Image borrowed HERE and links under the HERE word 🙂 .
24 October 2013 - 13:20
Horns says:
That's right, you can't cite the internet or google as a source (oh my god...) and you can't just steal images, you have to ask first.
Otherwise, copyright law is a bit tricky.
"Protection requires that what has been created has what is known as 'authorship' - that is, a certain degree of originality and distinctiveness".
Perhaps a little difficult to interpret, but just don't steal other people's photos and you won't have to worry about being liable for compensation. 🙂
24 October 2013 - 13:32
admin says:
BP, thanks for the tips on where to find pictures!
Maggan and Ingemar, if you are particularly protective of a picture, it can of course be good not to publish it at all. But it is not certain that others think so... The copyright rules are, after all, quite strict, I think.
Lars Permeln, thank you for the site tip!
Spider girl, that seems smart. I don't even know how to do that?
Guys, yes, certainly tricky ... and then I prefer to stay on the safe side.
😉
24 October 2013 - 16:40
Ladies Abroad says:
Wikipedia should only contain images that are under free licence or not protected by copyright. If we borrow images we try to do it from there, I think Wikipedia actually follows this up properly.
http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Bildfrågor
/Lena
24 October 2013 - 19:59
Krister in Beijing says:
Another way to search for free images is to select "may be used and shared" in the submenu of "Google Advanced Image Search" under the menu "usage rights".
Regards
24 October 2013 - 21:14
FixarFarsan.se says:
Great post! I use a lot of pictures in my posts and 99 out of 100 I have taken myself. Picture hundred is often a press picture that you "should borrow".
I probably ask other people's photos first before I borrow them, if I saw my photos online without a link or other source info I would probably be a bit surprised 🙂 ).
24 October 2013 - 23:34
admin says:
Ladies Abroad, thanks for the great tips!
Krister, thanks for great tips here too! This was a great post, because now I (and hopefully others too) got many useful tips!
🙂
FixarFarsan, it has actually happened to me that I have found my own pictures on other people's sites without a backlink. Then I've emailed them a little angry and asked them to link...
25 October 2013 - 6:58