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!
