Questionable Ethics
I was reminded yesterday that I am rather unscrupulous in the use of images on my Blog. My friend who is no longer used to serve as my Blog conscience. On more than one occasion, she reminded me that what I had posted was illegal, offensive, or inappropriate and should be removed. But there is a gray area in which images may be legal, but not ethical.
There are some people out there who are the model Bloggers when it comes to images. Media Concepts would be the first one who comes to my mind. He is careful to cite sources and never posts random pictures of people. He obviously had journalistic training.
Long before I learned how to post my own photos, I learned how to steal things from Google Image. And believe, me there are multiple choices out there for just about anything you could type in. I know it’s a no-no to use Stock photos, but there are a whole lot out there that don’t have that banner plastered across the image.
From time to time I have included pictures of people. The friends we vacation with are aware of this and don’t seem to mind. I have yet to take a photo of a stranger and ask permission to post it. I just have this feeling most people would say NO when they hear the word Blog.
I have taken great care NOT to post photos of children in the homeless shelter where I read or pictures that I know have the potential to put people (like anonymous Bloggers) in compromising positions. But this is not always sufficient.
On one occasion when I posted 20-year-old photos of an old friend’s children, he was irate and contacted me to let me know. I immediately removed the entire post and expressed my apologies. But it was an unfortunate incident. Since then I have tried to be more careful about pictures of people.
Jake has given me his permission to post photos of him any time.
I have always gone under the (possibly false) assumption that someone would contact me before suing me for the illegal use of an image. This is probably a stupid approach to take. But I’m just hoping there are bigger profit-taking fish to fry before someone would go after me.
So help me out here. If you see something that looks questionable, please let me know. That applies to the content as well. I think it might be time to clean up my act.
posted by Barbara at 7:59 AM
15 Comments:
You can use my pictures anytime! As long as people ask, they can use my flickr photos--I've always said yes. People borrowed from my old blog never asking, and one person lifted the entire blog and claimed it as their own. For many reasons I lost interest in that blog.
I can't imagine you ever doing anything offensive but then some people are easily offended. We all have our areas that we feel are off limits I guess.
I have taken lots of photos of homeless with their permission but still never posted them anywhere because even with their permission it feels very unfair to me.
I don't post photos of myself or friends and expect not to be posted by friends. And no real names --if people blog under a nickname, let them be.
Yes I guess I am careful with images taken after 1900 say, if I can find the true source I mention it.
When i photograph people on the street i ask if i can take their picture for my Nyack website and they say yes 99% of the time. Men often see me taking pictures and approach me, asking if I want to take a photo of them. Women sometimes start fixing their hair or put on lipstick first. Its funny --how bold and self confident the men are.
gee sorry my comment was so long! eeks/
I'll let you know if I see anything I think questionable!
Other than movie posters (in the context of movie reviews), I only post my own pictures and generally without people, but that's just me. I think it's a gray area.
It's tempting, especially if your blog is anonymous, or semi-anonymous, to regard it as your private place where you invite random strangers in to have a look at the pictures on your wall and in your photo album. It's easy to forget that once you invite the strangers in it is no longer your private place and the rules sort of change. Naturally that occurs on different levels for different people, but the main thing is to be as considerate as possible and try to imagine all of the potential ways someone might feel about having their picture posted, even if it was anonymous, on the internet - especially if you have a lot of readers.
For me, if I'm taking a picture of a building and there are a bunch of people in front of it, they are probably going to be in my photo, which I may or may not post.
But now I realize I have posted pictures featuring random people, so I'm definitely a hypocrite. Also, I never ask animals for their permission unless their owner is available to ask. And I also take pictures of houses without the owner's permission. And pictures of the sky without God's permission. Maybe I should re-think the focus of my blog. What about all those YouTube things people, including me, put on their blogs? I guess all I can do is try to be considerate!
Sorry my comment was so long too!
It is doubtful that the family of the squirrel you ran over will sue but one can never know. :)
(This is in no way a reference to the blogger "Squirrel"). :)
Guess what? I don't have to be anonymous for some reason today.
Everyone -- Thanks for all the good advice. It all boils down to thinking before posting. I'm going to work harder at this!
Kate -- I'm so glad Blogger is smiling on you today!
That's why there were never other people in any of my pictures! :)
Steve -- There must be something comparable to the Hippocratic Oath that you journalists take. Some of us are still trying to become so wise!
On the flip side, it sometimes seems unfair to deprive the world of the beauty of people's faces, for what?
I know, I know there are many evil people out there whose motives are not well-intentioned. In fact, a friend's mother regularly says, "There's porn in computers." And indeed in some that is true.
You have posted "offensive" pictures? Never! And why is it that retrievers never seem to have a problem getting their photos taken? Finally, when your friend's mom says "there's porn in computers," is she suggesting them as an investment, as in "there's gold in them thar hills"?
MC -- Porn in computers makes this otherwise very wise woman suspicious of why many of us seem so addicted! Her money is in corn, probably a better bet for the long haul.
Ever since I was a yearbook editor, I have learned that some people want their picture taken and some do not. I used to use pictures taken from Google (and I use them all the time in my work with kiddos), but once I was contacted and told not to use a particular picture and I realized how unfair it is to use other people's artwork... I, personally, would be flattered, but not everyone thinks like me. Now I try to use fotos that are as non-human as possible. ::Laugh:: and I have learned that if you put it on the net, your dad will see, tell your mom and then it will REALLY get twisted!
Kellyann -- A very wise approach indeed! My mom and dad aren't around to read...
As someone who works in the creative arts, I'm in favor of attribution all the way, Barbara! And, I actually find that it generally enhances my experience to know the source of the image (or music or painting or article), immediately afterward if not in the moment. For example, if I particularly like a photo on your site, I'd want to know that you took it!
Funny...in recent months my partner and I have leafed through photography books of several major world cities, and in many cases we were struck by the relative dearth of humans. We kept asking each other things like, "When the heck did they take this photo? Where is everybody? It can't be early morning -- look at the bright sun but lack of shadow." These photos were taken years before Photoshop could "magically" (some would say "disingenuously") remove the offending bodies from the images. I call this type of nearly-people-free-street-scenes-in-normally-bustling-tourist/urban-areas the "Post-Nuclear Holocaust" or "Plague" School of Urban Photography. Can't figure out what else could account for it!
-F.
Even when you find artwork or photographs through google, the point of origin (or at least of attribution) is there. It's easily copied and pasted below your picture or at the end of your blog.
"There's porn in computers" -- LOL!! That's FUNNY!
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