Point blank: is posting another person's work on a forum against the law?

[lyonsroar]

I'm on another forum and we have a blossoming photo section. We are having the issue of other posters posting others work because "it's a great picture!" etc. I have been trying to convince them that this is bad practice, but they aren't taking it.

So is it really against the law? I know it's against the rules here, but there must be a reason for it.

Thanks for the advice.

 

[Cheesy_DSLR_Man]

I don't know much on law and that but I'm sure something pertaining to copyright law would be involved in this, but then again once you upload it to the Internet I'm not sure who owns the rights.

Take Facebook for instance, when you upload your pictures to your profile, they instantly become property of Facebook and they can use them in any way they want.

But you are right it's not good practice to post other people's work because they like the picture. Guess just make sure people watermark there pictures at least that way people still know who originally took it.

 

[Big Mike]

It is against forum rule to directly post image to which you don't own the copyright.
Posting links to those images is fine though.

And while it is against forum rules, we may sometimes look the other way, if the image is being used as an example to further a discussion etc. Especially if proper credit is given.

What we really don't want, is people trying to pass off other's work as their own.

 

[lyonsroar]

It is against forum rule to directly post image to which you don't own the copyright.
Posting links to those images is fine though.

And while it is against forum rules, we may sometimes look the other way, if the image is being used as an example to further a discussion etc. Especially if proper credit is given.

What we really don't want, is people trying to pass off other's work as their own.

Right. I know the rules. So the main thing is that you don't want people passing off others work as their own huh...

There is no legal reason why one cannot post a photo that is not theirs?


EDIT:

I am trying to make this other forums photo section into a professional, polished, respected photo section. I believe that not posting another person's photos goes right along with that.

 

[Big Mike]

There is no legal reason why one cannot post a photo that is not theirs?

Well, technically....it probably is illegal to post a photo that you don't own the rights to.

 

[KmH]

I'm on another forum and we have a blossoming photo section. We are having the issue of other posters posting others work because "it's a great picture!" etc. I have been trying to convince them that this is bad practice, but they aren't taking it.

So is it really against the law? I know it's against the rules here, but there must be a reason for it.

Thanks for the advice.

Point blank - like most legal issues, IT DEPENDS. Copyright law is not as cut and dried as laws like traffic laws.

US copyright law provides for "Fair Use": U.S. Copyright Office - Fair Use

However, they note:

The distinction between fair use and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined.

and they also mention:

The safest course is always to get permission from the copyright owner before using copyrighted material.

Ultimately, fair use can only be decided on a case-by-case basis.

With all of that, web site owners need to be aware of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OCILLA, part of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) Online Copyright Infringement Liability and have all their legal ducks all in a row.

 

[flea77]

I would agree with Mike, posting an image you do not legally have the distribution or performance rights to is most likely quite illegal. And despite what Facebook may say, I doubt very seriously that if an image was used by Facebook in such a way as they derived profit from it to the detriment of the owner of the image that they would have any leg to stand on in court. My landlord has things in his lease which I know are not legally binding (my wife works for him), he puts them there just to scare people, even he admits they would never hold up in court.

Allan

 

[Josh66]

Personally, I don't see a huge difference between posting a link, and posting that exact same link, but with the 'IMG' tags around it. I'm assuming that the person posting it isn't claiming it as their own though...

I have never been fully convinced of why posting 'www . blah blah blah . jpg' is OK, but posting

is not...

 

[flyin-lowe]

I always tell people before you put anything on the internet on a site visible to the public, just assume it is going to show up everywhere. If you don't want it to show up everywhere don't put it on the internet. I am not saying it is right but that is how I feel about it.

 

[lyonsroar]

I'm on another forum and we have a blossoming photo section. We are having the issue of other posters posting others work because "it's a great picture!" etc. I have been trying to convince them that this is bad practice, but they aren't taking it.

So is it really against the law? I know it's against the rules here, but there must be a reason for it.

Thanks for the advice.

Point blank - like most legal issues, IT DEPENDS. Copyright law is not as cut and dried as laws like traffic laws.

US copyright law provides for "Fair Use": U.S. Copyright Office - Fair Use

However, they note:

The distinction between fair use and infringement may be unclear and not easily defined.

and they also mention:

The safest course is always to get permission from the copyright owner before using copyrighted material.

Ultimately, fair use can only be decided on a case-by-case basis.

With all of that, web site owners need to be aware of Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, part of the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) Online Copyright Infringement Liability and have all their legal ducks all in a row.

Just the man I was waiting to reply...thanks.

 

[Village Idiot]

I'm on another forum and we have a blossoming photo section. We are having the issue of other posters posting others work because "it's a great picture!" etc. I have been trying to convince them that this is bad practice, but they aren't taking it.

So is it really against the law? I know it's against the rules here, but there must be a reason for it.

Thanks for the advice.

What forum?