But I Found It Online

The age of the internet and digital files has changed a lot of things in our lives.  Digital content has given us millions of texts from around the world at our fingertips.  It's also done a lot for seeing photographs of areas of the world that would have never been taken before.  But it's also brought about a lot of issues regarding that content.


I have several friends who take a lot of photographs.  They enjoy sharing them and I enjoy viewing them.  Recently though, several of their photos have shown up in places without their permission.  I'm not one that believes the copyright system is perfect, however it is the law and there are places where it does what it was intended to do.  And this is an area where digital files and the internet has caused issues.  Most people think that if they find it on the internet they can do whatever they want with it.  That's not true.  Unless you are the one that took the photo, you don't own it and can't use it unless you have permission from the person that took the photo.  Period, no ifs, and, or buts!

But that is one of the flaws that I mentioned.  It doesn't matter who owns the camera, it matters who took the photo.  How many times have you asked to have someone take a photo for you with your camera?  Or how many times have you been asked to take a picture for someone?  The law (at least in the US) states that whoever clicks the button or touches the screen to cause the capture of the photo, owns that photo.  I'm sure that would change if someone pushed in court, nor do I believe anyone would argue that they own a picture on your camera.  That's beside the point though.  The point is, if you didn't take the picture, you don't own it!

I will admit that I'm not perfect when it comes to this, and I think anyone that claims they are is fooling themselves.  Don't believe me?  How many times have you posed a meme that doesn't contain a photo that you own (see definition above)?  All of those are borderline infringement.  I say borderline because often the origination is completely lost.  Legal to use?  No, but proving who was the first would be very difficult.

The point of this rant though is that you need to think about the pictures that you are posting.  I'm not saying that you need to pay for all of the pictures, just ask for permission to use them.  And when you're asking for permission, you should also let them know your intended use.  One last thing, give credit where it's due.  They may not be looking to make a living from their photos, but they are often proud of them.