Is it wrong to post picture I did not take??

Question

Is it alright if I took a picture from the internet like of a celeb and posted it on my flickr without permission if I clearly said that I did not take this picture and linked it back to the original website??

Also how do you ask for permission. I mean because if you just find a picture in google of a celeb how do you know who the original photographer is so you can get permission to use the pictures??

I am wondering because its just easier to upload pictures that I like onto my flickr so when I want them for something I can just find them on my flickr instead of having to find the website they came from!! Thanks!

Answer 1

make as many excuses as you like, have as many reasons as you like, call a dog a donkey if you wish,

taking things without permission is thief in any country in the world and wrong for legal, moral and many other reasons

you and other people that dont understand black is black or theif is wrong are the reason people now have to watermark everything

a

Answer 2

It is fine to take pictures from google, if the person who took the photo didn't want people to use the pictures they wouldn't have posted it online. And if they wanted credit for that photo they would have watermarked it. So don't worry about it. Especially pics of celebs.

Answer 3

C, I post things I did not take, but clearly label them.  The thing is, I get them from some source rather directly, such as someone giving me the image with permission to use it or through a contact here where someone asks for help or critique.

If you are using something from another source, by definition it is copyrighted material and you should not use it.  Some sites will have their licensing agreement at the bottom of the page if you look for it and you can take it from there.

Another thing that you might consider...

If you simply want to have the picture "at hand" for personal viewing, you might put it on your Flickr site and make it private.  You will be able to find it easily, but nobody else will be able to see it.  Is this wrong or illegal?  I suppose it might be both, but it's not like you are selling the image or using it in any other way.  I have not done this myself, but I wouldn't think less of someone else who did it.

I don't know what you mean when you say, "...when I want them for something..." though.  Don't print it and hang it on your wall or do anything else that would violate the copyright.

Okay, let's both stand back and take the flames over this one.

Yes, Yahoo!, I have used a lot of punctuation.  THANKS for pointing that out to me. (Haha!  I just felt like SHOUTING, too.)  And no, I do not wish to change "Haha" to "Ha ha."

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I hear ya........  Clearly, using someone else's work without compensating them is not right.  There is a good chance that you can find pics of celeb's in public domain if they are popular enough.  Your intended use does seem to fall in the "no harm done" zone, but you know we can't condone it.