Image copyright related (5)
Hello Everyone,,
I am new here and I am a relatively newbie. So, I have a question regarding image copyright . I know that we shouldn't use copyrighted images and we could find copyright-free imaged to use on some free or paid image stock websites. But, there are still some things not clear so I listed my main concerns about this issue in these points:
1- The main reason to not using copyrighted images is it to avoid being sued ?or because google can punish the website if it uses a copyrighted images ? I am asking so, because I don't want to be so obsessed with that issue if its not a big deal , especially that I live in a country where I believe getting sued for using a copyrighted image is not an option.
2- If I would like to make a FB ad for a specific product, should I make sure its not a copyrighted image ? and what can I do to make it uncopyrighted ? can I just edit the image slightly to make it free to use ?
3- Are there anyways to get around to make images copyright free ? cuz I heard that if I resize the image or change background color or any modifications to the original image would make it copyright free , to what extent that is true ?
4- Finally, I am establishing a new multi-vendor ecommerce website. The vendors will be uploading the images by them selves and I am sure most of them wont be aware of the copyright issue, so they will just upload any image they find on the internet for the product. So, will my website be safe? or Should I let them use only copyright free images or even take and image by them selves, but, I assume that will not be practical ?
Waiting for your answers and I really appreciate it ....Thanks
Interested in what others have to say on the topic. But here are my two cents:
-AFAIK, and also according to personal experience, FB won't ban/disapprove a creative just because it's a duplicate of another creative. For example, I was running UCG provided by the affiliate network, which other affiliates were also using.
As for whether an image is copyrighted or not: I highly doubt FB can tell the difference without manual detective work.
-Having said that: Personally I feeling better about using duplicate content that is modified - as you've suggested: Changing colors, resizing, etc. For videos I try to zoom in, add subtitles, etc. EDIT: Just want to emphasize that I'm talking about DUPLICATE content here (such as content provided by affiliate networks for affiliates) and NOT copyrighted content. Editing copyrighted content does NOT make it legal or legit to use.
-The bigger issues are 1)whether someone will report you to FB, and 2)brand/name infringement. So you'll need to assess the risks and whether or not it would be worth the risk. I would definitely avoid the latter.
-Also: I wouldn't be surprised if FB can automatically recognize some of the more common trademarks or logos. This is just my speculation. We once had FB disapprove a video creative repeatedly for vulgar language because one of the guys in the video was wearing a shirt with the word "SH*T" written on it. We took out that one frame and resubmitted and it got approved. So FB definitely does read/filter creatives automatically, not just human reviewers.
Some relevant threads that may provide further insight:
https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...s-your-account
https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...0-for-doing-am
https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...ctual-property
Hope that helps!
Amy
Originally Posted by mahly85
-Its a terribly complicated thing with various layers... ideally you want to use entirely "free to use" images from sites like Pixabay, Pexels, Unsplash... then there's other images like on wikipedia where you can use them but you're supposed to provide an attribution... then there's images that are indeed copyrighted... or images people post of themselves on social media... etc...
-Changing an image definitely doesn't negate the copyright... indeed that can be even worse than re-using it depending on what you're doing... it all depends though... if editing a picture of Mount Everest from Wikipedia I doubt anyone would care... if you're taking a copyrighted photo of a person and using it for an ED or Weight-Loss offer, you might have some big trouble...
-I used to just grab random pictures from Adplexity without really thinking about whether they were free to use, and actually had one gal email me and say "why are you using my picture in your ads?" - I immediately took it down and explained it is probably floating around on google images or flickr and people are presuming its free to use...
-I have had Outbrain and Taboola both deny images based on it being a known non-free to use image... I'm guessing that's usually going to be images where they received a complaint and added the image to a list there AI looks out for.
-If you've never seen it before look up the Dan Da Silva copyright lawsuit... perfect example of the "worst case' scenario to look out for.
-In answer to #4 that's complicated and you should probably ask an attorney... but in general it seems that most sites that allow third-party uploading have something in their P&P that says third-party vendors can't upload copyrighted images they don't have the rights to.... but again that may not protect you from a lawsuit...
But yeah, I assume that 99% of affiliates just try to avoid anything egregious... and try to stick with either Pixabay/Pexels/Unsplash type images, or else images from Wikimedia that no one really cares about... or just take their own images (especially with ecom products)...
Some places to get images and videos without having to worry about copyright:
https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...-Videos-Part-2
(See the section "Where to Get Images & Videos")
https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...-lots-of-links
https://stmforum.com/forum/showthrea...s-2017-Edition
Amy
As mentioned already, altering a copyrighted image definitely doesn't make it copyright free, so don't get yourself fooled there.
Technically, every image out there is copyrighted and its up to the owner to decide whether they allow others to use their work and under what conditions. As far as I understand the whole topic correctly, even in case of images where the owner specifically allows others to freely use them, the images still remain intellectual property of the owner and you cannot claim ownership etc...
But truth to be told, large part of affiliates do not really care about this and they use whatever photos they can find. In a waste majority of cases, nothing happens and nobody gets into trouble. But there are exceptions so some level of risk is always there. In most cases, the owner just contacts those infringing their rights and all it takes to stay out of trouble is to take the photos down, but some people have been sued already and it's definitely happening all the time on a smaller scale.
There are some cases where the risk is higher... for example using personal photos of people in adult ads, that's a more risky territory. Or messing with large brands that have an army of lawyers at their hands...
As for no.4, since you would just provide a platform for 3rd parities to upload their content, you would carry some level of protection in my opinion. After all, all the video tubes or services like pinterest did not get shut down yet and you can bet that tons of content found on those platforms are copyrighted. But you should definitely set a procedure to deal with take down requests as those are bound to happen if your platform grows. Consulting a lawyer would be the best for sure, you need proper TOS in place, I wouldn't even start without that.
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