I’ve been using Flickr photos that I have searched for using the “Creative Commons” criteria. I give attribution, and I don’t consider the photos to be used for commercial use. That’s because I consider “commercial use” to be something like me printing out the photos, framing them and selling them. Or perhaps using one as a background on a website design that I’m selling. Or making postcards. Stuff like that.
At any rate, I got this irate email from a Flickr user whose photo I had used berating me for having used a photo on a site that has “corporate advertising”. I didn’t use his photo in a post to promote anything corporate, so I was baffled. I went to his Flickr profile, and it said that people should ask permission before using his photos.
Ack. I thought that using Creative Commons got you out of having to ask permission each time you grab a photo. Has anyone else had this happen to them? Or is my site just particularly irksome? 
I haven’t gotten anything like that, but then again, there’s no ads on my site at this point. I guess you’ll have to skip the ones with “non-commercial” licenses if you want to entirely avoid situations like these. (I skip all the pictures that have “no-derivative-works” licenses.)
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I think Creative Commons needs to do a better job of defining “comercial use”.
I find my flickr photos on web sites all the time and no one has ever asked me–but, my photos pretty much suck and I know it, so I really don’t care.
If I did have a photo that was worth something–say, Jessica Simpson eating a hot dog–I sure wouldn’t put it on flickr for everyone to steal; I’d call TMZ and ask for a fat check.
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I had someone contact me but he was nice in his tone and asked very politely that he would appreciate a credit - I had the credit and I always link photos to the owner on flickr but guess this might start happening more and more now that most bloggers are using their pictures…
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Just goes to show you can’t please everyone. Some people may appreciate the attribution while others want to send you a nasty email. The graphics are a really nice touch. I think your still OK using the photos just make a note not to use any of this person’s work.
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I can understand cause I’ve had my art and text stolen. I had my art work taken and they even took credit for it. Removing my initials and claiming it was their own work. I have photos on Flickr and post all kinds of content on my blog too. I don’t try to protect my rights to my work cause it is just such a huge losing battle. But, when I see it stolen (again) I do get angry. I don’t think you are being very fair to label the photographer as “cranky” just cause he/she hasn’t given up on the battle to at least know where the photos are being shown. You never know, someone could read your post and think YOU are the cranky one.
That really surprises me, that you’d have problems with those photos. As of yet, I haven’t received any messages like that, and I’m hoping I won’t.
Sometimes I’ve been able to find nice pics under the section of “for everyone” or something along those lines. But, trying to find exactly what I’m looking for, that really works well with the topic I’m writing about, typically comes from the creative commons section and I always give the link below the photo.
I’m just keeping my fingers crossed that I won’t have any problem. I agree that Flickr needs to better define the rules.
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There is always someone who screams “It’s Mine!” regardless of what is shown on the page. To my knowledge, using creative commons clearly stipulates that you can use the image as long as you site it. No permission is needed. That is the point of “Some Rights Reserved.”
Sorry, ranting. Some people take it too seriously. I like Leo’s approach at Zen Habits (dot net). Let people use your stuff however they want and request they site you for it. It is free promotion for gosh sakes!
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Well, the way it works is, you look at what the license is. For example, if it’s an attribution-non-commercial license, it means you have to say who owns the picture and you cannot use it for commercial purpose. Since it doesn’t say no derivative work, it means you can build upon it. As long as you follow all the rules associated with the license, you do not need to ask for permission, since the license is already provided there. Now, if you want to use a picture for commercial purposes, but the creative commons license already says non-commercial, then you need to ask the author for permission. Formally he will see if he wants to grant you the right, and if he does, he shall provide you with a new license which allows the commercial use. So in that case, you will be asking for permission, instead of just using creative commons license.
If he was already sharing the pictures under creative commons, then he shouldn’t be requiring everyone to ask him for permission. He should only be asked if you need a license that’s different from the one already provided.
Is the way you used it considered commercial? Now that’s a gray area, and in this case, you probably didn’t agree on the definition of “commercial use”. Who is right? I don’t think it has really been spelled out in law books.
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[...] had been added to three different “man/boy” groups on Flickr. That day, I made the cranky Flickr user look like Santa Claus. I don’t remember what I wrote to people, but it wasn’t very [...]
Hi first time visiting your blog hope you don’t mind my .2
There are some quite good stock sites that allow people to use their photos on sites with attribution only like Stock xchnge and Open photo, I did a post on it last week on my regular blog (How to use images to give your posts a zing)
Also check out public domain photos, Wikipedia has a list of public domain websites.
@William & Laura, how you do find out that your pix have been taken is this just from surfing around a coming across them?
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