Guide to Image Copyright Infringement

Okay, well from my role playing experience, I've found that most role playing sites allow members to create graphics for their characters, such as posting tables and signatures. Graphics are a common aspect of role playings these days, which is why it is important for every role player/graphic maker to know when images are free-to-use or illegal to use. Using stolen images on a site you are a member of is a big no no.


When people find and use images off of Google or other similar search engines, what many don't realize is that the majority of those images are copyrighted. This means that by law, they are protected and cannot be used without the owner's permission. Therefore, if you are looking for that perfect play-by or image to incorporate in a graphic, and you scroll through a search engine's list of photos and choose the first one that catches your eye, chances are you don't have the right to use it. You are literally stealing that image and breaking the law because copyright infringement is illegal. In order to use an image, you must have the owner's permission, and for making graphics, you must have permission to modify, alter, and adapt it.
Suddenly, Google isn't the apple of your eye anymore, is it?


How Do I Find Images I Can Legally Use?
Well, there are dozens of sites that offer free-to-use images that don't even need to be credited. One of the largest I know of is Flickr, but you have to know where to look in order to find these free-to-use photos on there. Here are the directions:

When you go to Flickr to search for images, you will see a link that says Advanced Search to the right of the search area where you type in what you are looking for. Click on that. Next, type in what you are looking for, and then scroll down to the bottom of the page and make sure the following are checked:
- Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content
- Find content to modify, adapt, or build upon

Then click search below that, and all of the images that appear are free to use and/or make graphics with. However, please keep in mind that crediting the owner of the image you are using is the courteous thing to do, and it's won't kill you to add credits.

Another great site is Stock.XCHNG: www.sxc.hu
All of the images found on this site are free to use(even commercially), but some of them must be purchased in order to use them(they have large watermarks across them, so they're easy to spot). Also, in order download/use the images on this site, you must sign up, which is free.

To find other sites with free-to-use images like these two offer, simply look up- dare I say "google"- sites that offer free stock images. Most of the results are probably Royalty Free image resource sites, which means that their images are allowed to be used (non-)commercially, but you need to pay to use them first. However, a few of these sites have free images you can use. Basically, if you look for them, you are bound to find what you're looking for. Simply be aware of copyrights on all sites and images, which are always near the image and for sites in general, they are more often than not located at the site's footer(bottom). For extra clarification, I will show you all an example below:

Example
My mission: to find the perfect play-by image(s) for my character.
I scour the web for a while and eventually find the following celebrity photo resource site: http://www.sweetandtalented.com/info.php

I look through all of the photos they offer for the hundreds of celebrities , but before I link to or use one, my first concern is whether or not I have the right to use these images. In their header image, I notice the main links they have, and one of them is "Information". Well, I want to know about their copyright information, right? (Yes.) So I click on it, and then in their list of information, I see a link labeled "Disclaimer", and below that it says, "The copyright, the legal stuff." I click on that, and then it takes me to their copyright information. I read, and I notice that it says, "Personal usage only." Since a play-by is for my own personal use(I will not make a profit by using it and it isn't being used for a business), I can use these images. However, earlier in their copyright paragraph, it says, "All photographic images are copyrighted to their original photographers, no copyright infringement is intended." So what they're saying is that they don't intend to commit copyright infringement, but the phrase "there's always a chance" or "anything is possible" sort of applies here. Perhaps I should add proper credits to whatever I eventually create with this image... That's a great(and courteous) idea, and it is always best to play it safe.

Firefox Users
For those of you who use Mozilla Firefox, there is a nifty add-on that you can download, which allows you to search from a list of around one hundred or more sites that offer free-to-use stock images. It's a quick way to search through your favorite stock image sites all at once, and once you get the hang of it, it can become quite helpful.

What Happens If I Commit Copyright Infringement?
You think nothing serious will happen, don't you?
Well, more often than not that's probably the case in the role playing world, but when people such as business owners are caught with a "stolen" image, they can be fined up to a thousand dollars or more. I will not get into too much detail with the consequences because the general idea of copyright infringement is that it's against the law and you should not be doing it. You shouldn't need to know the consequences in order to be persuaded into not doing it. If you're one of the many people who have unknowingly committed this, don't feel alone.

Guide by Ampersand of RPGD