am i breaking copyright?

j2u

Hi i wish to start an online magazine and so id like to know about pictures i find on the internet whether or not i could be breaking copyright laws?
like for motors or sport can i just google images and use whatever images i find or would that be breaking copyright even if the magazine is free of charge? as far as i know its legal for people to copy and paste pictures here and on other forums so if was to do it on a pdf magazine i dont think it would be any different?
Thanks

Feelgood

Yes without a doubt your breaking copyright...you need permission from the owner to use any images in further publications such as an online magazine.

Best of luck with it though, whats stopping you from taking your own photos??

Ardscoil Ris

j2u wrote: »

Hi i wish to start an online magazine and so id like to know about pictures i find on the internet whether or not i could be breaking copyright laws?
like for motors or sport can i just google images and use whatever images i find or would that be breaking copyright even if the magazine is free of charge? as far as i know its legal for people to copy and paste pictures here and on other forums so if was to do it on a pdf magazine i dont think it would be any different?
Thanks

Although, some companies own the rights to images you have taken they rarely go after you over it unless you're making a profit.

Basically. It's all fine and dandy unless you're making a profit from it.

tricky D

Ardscoil Ris wrote: »

Although, some companies own the rights to images you have taken they rarely go after you over it unless your making a profit.

Basically. It's all fine and dandy unless your making a profit from it.

Not true and illegal. There are plenty of stories on boards of copyright holders finding their work being used without permission and they have charged the users.

OP look at http://commons.wikimedia.org/ or Google for 'royalty free'

brianthebard

Yes copying pics for a magazine is very different to using them on a forum. Check out www.stockphotos.com you can find royalty free pictures there quite cheaply. Presumably you are going to try and find some monetary reward from this magazine, even if its just enough to break even, so factor in the cost of pics and adjust your model accordingly.

Matt Holck

tricky D wrote: »

Not true and illegal. There are plenty of stories on boards of copyright holders finding their work being used without permission and they have charged the users.

OP look at http://commons.wikimedia.org/ or Google for 'royalty free'

if the search engines can post private images to bolster their popularity,
then why can't I?

tricky D

Matt Holck wrote: »

if the search engines can post private images to bolster their popularity,
then why can't I?

Good question.

The images are in the public domain, they're thumbnails not full images and it is possibly covered by Fair Use. There's also a mutual benefit which might play here but implicit permission isn't actual permission.

Here's what Google tell site owners to do:
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=35308
which requires the copyright holder to take preventative measures when it would be more appropriate, in a natural law sense, that the burden of taking the preventative measures should be on them.

http://www.google.ie/search?q=google+and+image+copyright points to some rulings against Google.

Thoie

You could always pop over to the photography forum, and mention the kind of photos you're looking for, and offer to pay a nominal fee for their use. There are a lot of photographers there, covering a wide range of areas. Some may be willing to give you limited rights for free, others will charge, but all are reasonable people. Going in and saying "someone give me free photos" will put backs up.

There was also recent discussion about starting an online photography magazine, so there may be some interest in piggybacking on your idea with a few articles and photos to start with (not guaranteeing that there will, just a suggestion )