Are You Sharing Images Illegally?

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour. - William Blake

Today, I noticed a wonderful photo that had been shared on Facebook. It was a picture of a handful of sand magnified to reveal the worlds within. Tiny fossils and shell fragments mixed with igneous materials.

Without much thought, I used the Facebook button to share it with my friends right away. This kind of sharing does not worry me at all because, if the originator of the photograph wishes to take issue, their recourse is with Facebook and not me. The same thing applies to videos shared via Youtube.

A while back, someone emailed me saying that they were concerned about people ‘stealing’ their Youtube videos. It was probably someone using one of many spam techniques in order to get a return email address to spam me. Anyone who complains about people sharing their Youtube videos does not know how to use the settings on the Youtube site. But again, should anybody wish to pursue the matter legally, their issue is with Youtube.

However, the picture of the sand was such a beautiful photograph that I also wanted to share it here at my blog. Now that is an entirely different thing. So, before doing so, I briefly looked into the legality of sharing Facebook images in this way and, although the matter is entirely debatable, I can see possibilities (for those who wish to do so) to make use of Facebook to profit by pursuing ‘illegal’ usage of copyright images.

The web crosses all international boundaries (with the partial exception of China) and copyright law simply doesn’t. We do have the Berne Convention, though not all countries are signed up to it. We have the concept of the Public Domain; though that can be another nightmare because the requirement for entry into the Public Domain differs from country to country. There is no question in my mind that copyright law is in a mess at the moment.

So, I thought it might be beneficial for me to post about the use of images on your blog or website because one of my mentees, in my personal mentoring program, just this week asked me if it was OK to copy and reuse images found on the web. I was, at first, a little shocked at the question, but then I realised that many people just don’t understand how they could be leaving themselves open to legal action.

The above image of Pismo Beach sand was taken by Mark A. Wilson (Department of Geology, The College of Wooster) who has granted permission for it to be used:

I, the copyright holder of this work, release this work into the public domain. This applies worldwide. In some countries this may not be legally possible; if so: I grant anyone the right to use this work for any purpose, without any conditions, unless such conditions are required by law.

That’s pretty clear!

To stay on the right side of the law (as confused as it may be) you should assume that all images you come across on the web are copyright and that you are not allowed to use them unless permission is explicitly granted to you. That way, you should be able to stay out of legal trouble.

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