Bloggers Beware: You CAN Get Sued For Using Pics on Your Blog

Posted on July 21, 2012 | 42 Comments

I don’t normally “reblog” stuff. I like to write my own material… and usually my opinions differ from the orignal writer’s, so I need to write my own stuff anyway.

However, in this case, I think this post is powerful enough, and well-written enough that it can stand on its own. If you blog, and you have ever posted a picture on your blog that you did not take with your own camera, you OWE IT TO YOURSELF to read this post. Are you sitting on a ticking time bomb?

Many people think “It will not happen to me.” Guess what? It happened to author Roni Loren. Please click the link below to hop over to read her story.

Bloggers Beware: You CAN Get Sued For Using Pics on Your Blog – My Story

By the way… in case you were wondering… all the art on my blog has been legally purchased. I prefer to spend a little money for peace of mind.

12 horrible pieces of blogging advice (prdaily.com)
12 Ways Best Blogging Practices Aren’t (timberry.bplans.com)

This entry was posted in Author Advice, Senseless Ranting and tagged Blog, Blogger, can I use pictures on my blog, copyright infringement, Methods of website linking, pictures on blogs, Social media, sued for pictures, Writers Resources. Bookmark the permalink.

42 responses to “Bloggers Beware: You CAN Get Sued For Using Pics on Your Blog”

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Ileandra Young | August 3, 2012 at 3:35 pm |

I must admit I’d never thought about it before. I try to use my own photos, but don’t always. I think I’m going to make some changes! Pronto.
- Jennifer M Eaton | August 3, 2012 at 8:19 pm |
  
  Yes, I’m usually careful, but I did come across one and promptly deleted it.
WomanBitesDog | July 25, 2012 at 6:49 am |

Well done for bringing this to people’s attention. I’m constantly reminding people who run their own newsletters that you cannot lift pictures/cartoons/illustrations. They are someone’s work, someone’s copyright – it’s how they make a living. And a lawsuit can close a small operation…
maggotchik01 | July 23, 2012 at 3:37 pm |

wow thanks for the warning, I had no Idea that you could get sued for using pics
- Jennifer M Eaton | July 23, 2012 at 3:40 pm |
  
  I think a lot of people don’t even think about it.
  - maggotchik01 | July 23, 2012 at 3:47 pm |
    
    I know I didn’t, I don’t really use pics in my blog but I was just telling myself how I should start using pics but I guess it was a good thing
    - Jennifer M Eaton | July 23, 2012 at 10:05 pm |
      
      Pictures can make it more engaging. Just make sure you have the rights to them
readinpleasure | July 23, 2012 at 7:59 am |

Thank you, Jennifer. I’ve read the post in deatail and it is a timely piece. I want to know wether the book covers on my blog that go with the reviews of the said books fall under these categories.
- Jennifer M Eaton | July 23, 2012 at 10:33 am |
  
  I was wondering that as well as I reviewed a book last night. I don’t really know. I guess to be safe you could contact the publisher
  - readinpleasure | July 23, 2012 at 10:37 am |
    
    Thanks, Jennifer. Will do so
FacetsofLucy | July 22, 2012 at 8:53 pm |

I just read your blog this morning. Fascinating and informative because I’m still learning about blogging. I love your advice about building up your own stock image collection. But I thank you for following me on Al’s War. All those photos are either Al’s, mine or family’s, for which I’m grateful.
ghostofawriter | July 22, 2012 at 9:25 am |

Excellent advice for those of us who try to make a living online…I try to be very careful about my images, but I am sure I have slipped up somewhere
- Jennifer M Eaton | July 22, 2012 at 10:00 am |
  
  I did go back through my images and found one that was suspect. I did give credits, but I removed it.
Let's CUT the Crap! | July 21, 2012 at 5:31 pm |

I was aghast when some time ago, I saw a newspaper comic strip pasted into a blog. I used to create a company newsletter and you wouldn’t believe the how difficult it was when I began, because all the money I’d spent DVD images could NOT be used.
robincoyle | July 21, 2012 at 4:02 pm |

Reblogged this on Robin Coyle and commented:
Here is a cautionary tale for all of us. So long posts with galleries of photos of beautiful things gone by. Sorry this is a reblog of a reblog, but the information is important.
jmmcdowell | July 21, 2012 at 3:53 pm |

Yours is the second reblog I’ve seen of this, and it’s definitely a good warning for all of us. I’ve mainly stuck to my own photos and Microsoft clip art (acknowledged as such), but I will be doubly careful now.
Jennifer Worrell | July 21, 2012 at 1:07 pm |

http://www.morguefile.com has some pretty good photos. This post is a great reminder!!!
paulaacton | July 21, 2012 at 12:17 pm |

scary when you consider how many time on places like facebook we all hit the share button without thinking most of the images I have used have been my own but there have been the odd ones that I have grabbed from the internet most of them feature on so many different sites it would now prove difficult to track down the original owners but I shall certainly be more wary from now on
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robincoyle | July 21, 2012 at 12:16 pm |

Argh! There go my posts of beautiful books, pens, journals and the like. Thanks for passing along the information.
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WDLady | July 21, 2012 at 10:59 am |

Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Michelle Proulx | July 21, 2012 at 10:50 am |

Ack! I’ve just been posting links back to the sites I got the images from. I guess I’ll have to go back and delete them all?
- Jennifer M Eaton | July 21, 2012 at 11:13 pm |
  
  If you do not have permission, I would. There is one I used a long time ago. I am going to delete the picture from the blog, and also from my memory.
Carrie Rubin | July 21, 2012 at 10:47 am |

Can you tell us which company you use for your photos?
- Jennifer M Eaton | July 21, 2012 at 11:10 pm |
  
  I’ve used Veer.com Getty Images, and Digital Juice (My favorite, but the most costly)
  You can get lost on Veer and Getty forever. There are hundreds of thousands of images to choose from. (Wow… that kind of sounded like a commercial, didn’t it?)
  - Carrie Rubin | July 22, 2012 at 10:03 am |
    
    Thanks for the information. 🙂
Margarita | July 21, 2012 at 10:38 am |

Thank you! I only use my own photos and I had no idea about all the ramifications and implications of using others’ work. Great info!
doncarroll | July 21, 2012 at 9:58 am |

sound advice jenn. i haven’t used a single photo on mine as of yet. if i were they’d be from something i personally had and not from the net. however i believe if one were to want to use another’s photo for their blog, i believe an email to that owner of the photo as to permission to use would be safe with giving credit to that owner on your blog.
- Jennifer M Eaton | July 21, 2012 at 11:07 pm |
  
  Yes, but you would need to get that permission in writing so you could show it later in case an issue came up.
  - doncarroll | July 22, 2012 at 1:19 am |
    
    absolutely correct jenn. you’ve got the right message to protect others in our realm of things. hope the weather and all is going great for you. enjoy the weekend. i’m heading to north carolina on monday. 3 weeks of fun time away from work:)
jamieayres | July 21, 2012 at 8:48 am |

Thanks so much for this post! It couldn’t come at a better time for me since my sisters and I need to look for public domain pics for my cover!
- Jennifer M Eaton | July 21, 2012 at 11:06 pm |
  
  Public Domaign pics for your cover? Seriously? If you are doing your own cover art… please hire a professional artist, or find something on one of the pay-per-use sites like Veer.com or Getty Images. I think Shutterstock does it, too. I would not put cheezy free art on the coer of my novel. If could kill it before they even read your blurb (Just my opinion, but please, give the cover as much attention as you gave your book)
marie gilbert | July 21, 2012 at 6:55 am |

Thank you Jennifer. So where can I copy safe pictures?
- Ravena Guron | July 21, 2012 at 7:09 am |
  
  I would try wikimedia commons: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
  Anyone can use those pictures 😀
- marie gilbert | July 21, 2012 at 9:46 am |
  
  Thank you very much. I’ll check it out.
Ravena Guron | July 21, 2012 at 6:48 am |

I haven’t used any photos on my blog, but I needed advice like this. Thanks for sharing this 🙂
Vanessa Chapman | July 21, 2012 at 3:59 am |

I always use my own photos or one from a stock photo site – there are sites that have ones you can use for free as long as you aren’t making money out of using the photos. The thing that surprised me when I read the post you linked to was that they still sued her even though she took the photo down straight away when she was asked to, I had thought that they could only sue if you persisted in using the photo after your infringement had been pointed out, so that’s useful to know.
Shelley Munro (@ShelleyMunro) | July 21, 2012 at 2:29 am |

I tend to use my own photos or buy them. This post is a timely reminder.
Shelley Bax | July 21, 2012 at 2:11 am |

Thanks for the timely tip!
Vikki (The View Outside) | July 21, 2012 at 2:05 am |

Thanks for this honey.

I tend to use my own photo’s but I have occasionally used the odd cartoon.

I will look into this more closely in future 🙂

Xx