Finding and using legally permitted photos

Beatrice MotamediThe Urban School of San FranciscoJanuary 2012

Xenotropic murine leukemia virus, 2010. U.S. government work/photo by Center for Disease Control and Prevention (http://www.cdc.gov/

xmrv/index.html) [Public domain or Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

@ 2012 Beatrice Motamedi

Sunday, July 22, 12

What “legally permitted” means

• You have permission from the person who owns the photo (not me or a student editor) to run the photo in the Legend in print or online.

• Running the photo will not violate someone’s copyright (his or her legal claim to the photo).

• There are plenty of online sites that offer legally permitted photos. However, it’s your responsibility to double-check the license information and make sure that a photo is okay for us to use.

• If we use a non-legal photo, we could be sued for copyright infringement, and we could have to pay (a lot).

Sunday, July 22, 12

What “permission” looks like

Sunday, July 22, 12

Also this ... from morgueFile

Sunday, July 22, 12

A general rule:

You must have permission from the photographer, photo service (Getty, Associated Press, Agence France-Presse) or the institution that owns the photo (for example, a photo of an exhibit at the SF Museum of Modern Art, a photo of a ballgame by the SF Giants) before using a photo in print or online.

Sunday, July 22, 12

Is this photo worth $1,000?

Photo by Getty Images.

Don’t worry; I can use this thanks to the Fair Use exemption for education. But I can’t publish or distribute it beyond this classroom.

Sunday, July 22, 12

More guidelines

• A photo you take as a Legend staff member is safer and usually better than almost anything else. Plus, you’re a student publication, right? Why not use student work?

• Photos of book covers and movie posters may be taken from a publisher or movie studio’s website and used in print or online, but only in connection with a review of the book (Fair Use exemption).

• Very old photos — ones that are in the public domain — may be used freely.

• Photos taken by an arm of the U.S. government also may be used freely.

• Many newspapers/wire services will give you permission to re-run their photos with attribution. We’ve done this several times (SF Chronicle, AP). It’s worth a try. But you have to call the photo editor and get the permission in writing.

Sunday, July 22, 12

What’s public domain, and when does it apply?

“A Harvest of Death,” Gettysburg, July 1863.Timothy H. O'Sullivan, photographer. Photo from the American Memory project (public domain).

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Public domain is the phrase used to identify works that are not protected by copyright, and may be used without restriction by anyone. Public domain applies to work that is 1) old — it was produced or published prior to 1928; 2) the author or photographer has failed to meet U.S. copyright requirements, or 3) it was produced by an arm of the U.S. government.

Generally, works produced prior to 1923 are in the public domain. Any work created after 1989 automatically has a copyright during the life of the author, plus 78 years. Works created between 1923 and 1989 may be copyrighted depending on whether or not certain rules were followed.

For more details, see: http://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/copyright/publicdomain.html#a

So ... could you use that photo?

Sunday, July 22, 12

Where to find a legal photo

• Start with Creative Commons — the best place to search for legally permitted images, with links to Wikipedia Commons, Flickr and Google.

• They actually want you to share and use creative work, and even remix/alter it: “Creative Commons develops, supports, and stewards legal and technical infrastructure that maximizes digital creativity, sharing, and innovation.”

• Check “I want something that I can use for commercial purposes” in order to find photos you can re-publish in print or online.

• Check “I want something that I can (check) modify, adapt, or build upon” if you intend to do a photo illustration.

Sunday, July 22, 12

Creative Commons search page

Sunday, July 22, 12

U.S. government photostream on Flickr

• Search by topic (“war in Afghanistan”) or agency (Centers for Disease Control, NASA)

• Identify the photo as government work and attribute it to the agency that did it, e.g., “U.S. government work/photo by NASA”

• Another good meta-site: http://www.usa.gov/Topics/Graphics.shtml

Sunday, July 22, 12

Possibly the most downloaded photo, ever

“Blue Marble,” U.S. government work/photo by NASA Goddard Photo and Video.

For more on the history of NASA’s “blue marble” photo project, click on http://www.nasa.gov/vision/earth/features/blue_marble.html

Sunday, July 22, 12

OpenPhoto

• Tip: Click on any of the categories, then the photo you like. Look for the “CC: Attribution-Share Alike” phrase under the photographer’s name; this lets you know that you can use the photo (but make sure you attribute it to the photographer).

• It’s .net, not .com.

Photo by Rajendra Singh at OpenPhoto.net/Creative Commons license.

Sunday, July 22, 12

morgueFile

• Tip: Click on “free photos” and then the photo you like. Some — like the photo at right — will say that you don’t have to attribute them, but for the Legend in print/online, you still should.

• it’s .com.

Photo by violetwinters at morgueFile.com/Creative Commons license.

Sunday, July 22, 12

View of Tower 2 of the World Trade Center, taken from Tower 1. Photo by Sander Lamme (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

To see the photo/credit: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:WTC_New_York_1992_Sander_Lamme.jpg#file

Wikimedia Commons: “How the heck did they get those photos?”

Sunday, July 22, 12

Wikimedia: Click on “images,” then search by keyword (easiest way)

Sunday, July 22, 12

Occupy on Wikimedia

Look for the day-by-day gallery of photos from Wall Street, Austin, Oakland, other locations. You could construct your own (legally permitted) photo timeline.

An unidentified woman holds up a sign on Sept. 28, 2011, Day 12 of the Occupy Wall Street protest at New York’s Zuccotti Park. Photo by David

Shankbone at Wikimedia Commons/Creative Commons license.

Sunday, July 22, 12

Credit lines

• Write them to give credit to the photographer and/or source of the photo.

• Always begin with “Photo by (name of photographer)” or “Photo courtesy of” (name of source).

• “Photo by” and “Photo courtesy of” are not permission. Make sure you have permission. If you don’t, “courtesy” will not protect you.

• Attribute the photo to the photographer whenever possible.

• If the photographer specifies a credit line, use it (see Sander).

• Remember to end your credit line with a period.

Sunday, July 22, 12

Examples

• A photo by a Legend staff member or photographer: Photo by Sonja Bartlett.

• A CC-licensed photo that you got off Flickr or a similar photosite: Photo by Sonja Bartlett at Flickr.com/Creative Commons license.

• A photo that was taken by a photographer who has given you written permission: Photo courtesy of Sonja Bartlett/used with permission.

• A photo that is in the public domain (mention date of photo in caption): Photo from the American Memory Project (public domain).

• A photo of a book cover or movie poster, which you are using alongside a review: Photo from Random House/fair use exemption.

• A photo that you got from Sonja Bartlett, photographer for the Associated Press, and the AP photo editor has given you permission to run it: Photo courtesy of Sonja Bartlett of the Associated Press/used with permission.

• A photo that you took from a government agency website: U.S. Government Work/photo by Centers for Disease Control.

Sunday, July 22, 12