Earlier this week there was quite the discussion on one of the genealogy sites I frequent regarding copyright and the ‘stealing’ of photos for your web site and blog. A lot of people post photos of their loved ones with their family trees, only to find them pop up on other trees and sites, sometimes linked to the wrong person, and always without prior permission. This led to a pretty heated discussion with comments ranging from ‘it’s stealing just like if you downloaded and album and then uploaded to share with the world’ to ‘don’t put it on the internet if you don’t want me to take it!’. And of course everyone thinks they are right!
Moving away from genealogy, I started thinking about my book blog. Almost since I’ve had it, I’ve ‘borrowed’ cover photos and synopses from sites like Goodreads and Amazon. I’ve kind of been of the opinion that it is ‘free advertising’ and the would encourage that. I kind of sound like the attitude up above, no? But the big thing I took away from the genealogy discussion is this; most people really do NOT mind sharing photos, but they DO want to be ASKED! So now I’ve reached the point that I feel like I need an ‘official’ source for my info. I would like to ask permission from Goodreads, but I can’t seem to find a link to request that permission.
So my question for you all today is....
Where do you get the cover photos and information you use for your blog? Have you formally asked permission? Do you feel the need to ask permission?
I guess maybe I AM asking you ‘what do YOU think?’ And I’m looking forward to your answers!
I also find this a really difficult question. With book covers, I don't think you need permission. I usually take them from goodreads. It's better to upload them yourself, but I admit I'm often guilty of hotlinking them because it's faster :/
ReplyDeleteI take book descriptions from GR too but I say that I do (sometiems the descriptions vary across editions or retailers).
I think this is okay because it's not 'persona' information. It's content put out there by the publisher. If there was a photo I found on someone's blog and I wanted to use it for a banner or something like that, I'd definitely ask for permission and give credit! Otherwise you can get into big trouble. Whenever I need a picture that is not a cover and that I didn't make/take myself, I get really unsure. If it's just a picture of a city I found on google, I simply give a link to the source below it and say that it's not mine. Otherwise, I use free stock pictures.
But I'm by no means an expert. Ashley from Nose Graze has an amazing post about it here though!