Copyright

Will someone explain to me just when an image is no longer protected by copyright. When uploading an image on this forum we have to claim that the image belongs to the poster or has permission from the original photographer to use the image. I once used an image on this forum that didn't belong to me but I knew the image was over sixty years old, is that OK? I also know that others have posted images here that didn't belong to them, did they get permission? I don't know but its doubtful. What about pictures on Google Images? Are they up for grabs by anyone or must we find who owns the copyright and ask permission?

Hi Norman, good question! Copyright exists to protect the creator of a piece of work and lasts for the lifetime of the 'artist' PLUS 70 years after their death. Everything, unless it is placed in the PUBLIC DOMAIN by the owner, is protected by copyright. If it's a photograph, for instance, copyright belongs to the person who "clicks the shutter" (unless the 'togs contract automatically assigns copyright to the person they are taking the photos on behalf of) Often an owner will state "Must not be copied without the express permission of...." (Or something similar) or "this image is placed in the public domain" - where it would be free to be copied as long as the original statement is included. Many people believe that once an image is placed on the internet it is free to use, but that is not the case. Generally action would not be taken for copyright infringement where no commercial gain has been made, although you could find that you get a request to remove the copy that has been used - where proceedings could follow if the request is ignored. Here is a good explanation of Copyright. Hope that helps!

I think just mentioning the owners name and thanking them is enough..

Thank you TonyS, I think we should all be aware of such information.

Thanks for replies...I asked the question because I was about to lift a photograph from Google when I realised that the image did not belong to me...Did Google ask permission from the photographers for permission to use the photographs on their site ? No they did not because there two pics' of mine that were used by Motor Cycle News taken in the 50s that now appear on Google. Because these photographs were used by a motorcycle paper does this mean that they are up for grabs by anyone?...I will have to go and read again the link provided by Tony.

The copyright situation differs when you post a link to an image rather than copy the image. This is generally regarded as permissible, otherwise google images would not be possible, though it is courteous to credit the original website. Significant changes were made to the law last year. www.gov.uk/government/news/changes-to-copyright-law

Hi again Norman, It's a complicated issue. If photos are explicitly uploaded to a Google server, I would expect them to have a clause in their Terms & Conditions that would give them permission to use your photo. Just as Facebook has, so any pic on your Facebook page can be used by them in any way they wish. I believe even to the extent of them selling them on to a third party! (can someone please clarify that? - I know there was an uproar some while ago when it was discovered but not sure how it concluded) If your photo is being displayed as part of Google's "normal" indexing of the internet - to assist in searches, they would probably argue that they are simply displaying your pic for information purposes and therefore not infringing on copyright (although you could ask them to remove them - but my bet is it would be a long drawn-out process) Generally, if a photo is used as part of a news article, I think it is allowed, as long as the copyright holder is clearly displayed - unless of course an explicit declaration of non-use has been issued. Right, I'm off for a lie down

If you intend to place a link to someone else's photograph it is always a good idea to contact not only the owner of the image you are linking to, but also the website owner as well, as it is their 'bandwidth' you'll be using when people view a photo via a link. On the subject of websites, a website owner can add code to prevent search engines (like Google) from trawling through their web pages and listing their content. They can also prevent, should they so wish, images contained on their own web pages from being linked to - thereby saving their bandwidth from being 'hijacked'.

Thanks for all replies. I promise that I will try to get my head around but as I am 82 I don't have a lot of time left.

'Cuely' ? I cant even spell the word.

I know on some garden sites as soon as you upload your photo to their site, the site holds the copy right, hence why I upload here now first. I wrote a poem sent it to the telegraph and they published it, but when looking my poem up it says another lady from the poems of Coventry Telegraph has the copyright to it not me. You can make google or company take off what you ve written or your photo, as a lady uploaded a picture of her little grand daughter stood out side a famous garden which the garden used that photo with out her permission, she was devastated because of what goes on with the net nowadays, we had to explain if you dont want the world to see dont upload any where on the net, she made them take it off. I wrote a message to a mod on a garden site a warning of offensive content that had come on the chat, so it could be deleted, s.a.p not upset the others, this google picked up Clive the webmaster got his son who works for google to take it off, told me next time send an email. Any thing in the domain google will pick up and use. As like you Norman google has used my photo from HC too.

Freedom of Panorama Under Threat in Europe

I would think that Europe has little hope of controlling copyright for online images, as they are inevitably uploaded to computers in the US controlled by companies in the US and after the uploader has agreed to terms and conditions that specify US law applies.