copyright on photos

[jessiedog]

I am thinking of compiling a quiz and would quite like to use photos found on sites like Flickr. I have just been looking at the site rules (Flickr) about copyright etc and they seem to apply to the use of their own trademarks etc or to those members uploading photos that may infringe the copyright of third parties eg a photo of a coca cola advert.

Am I right in thinking that if photos are on the site for all to see ie a public album, then it would be OK to copy them for use in my quiz. As you can all appreciate, it is not likely to be seen by all that many competitors and the money would be for charity (Cinnamon Trust or Dogstrust).

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[jessiedog]

By the way, I am off now till tomorrow, so apologies in advance if you reply and I don't answer.

[blowmedown]

Hi jessiedog,

There are lots of ready made picture quizzes on this site.

http://www.quiz-zone.co.uk/quizzesbyformat/pic ture.html

[gen2]

The copyright remains with the photographer unless:-

a) The photograph was commissioned, in which case the copyright remains with the commissioner. (but the negative remains the property of the photographer).

b) The copyright has been sold to a third party.

c) The copyright has been waived by whichever of the above holds the copyright.

Placing a picture on Flickr is simply publishing the photograph and is akin to publishing it in a newpaper or magazine. That DOES NOT put the image into the public domain and DOES NOT relinquish copyright. All it does is lay it open to abusers who wish to rip it off for their own uses. All you need to do is contact the owner and ask for permission. Most reasonable photographers would allow images to be used free of charge for minor charities in return for an acknowledgement/credit for their work (along with a copyright notice) in the publication.

Of course Flickr's T&C emphasise protection of their own images (and covering their backs against damaging costs claimed by large corporations). It is left to the individuals who use Flickr (and similar sites) to fight their own copyright battles, but that is no excuse for taking an advantage of them.

On a more realistic note, I should add that it will depend greatly on how widely the quiz is distributed (and in what form) as to whether the copyright holder would find it wothwhile to pursue the matter for financial recompense.

[jessiedog]

Many thanks gen2 for your thoughtful and detailed answer. It does make sense to contact the owners of any pictures and I shall return to Flickr et al to search for their contact details. Hopefully the pics I want to use are not from non english speakers as that would make it really difficult and need a rethink.

Thanks blowmedown, nice suggestion but I have quite a few ideas for questions, but thanks for the address.

[loopy lass]

hi jessiedog, sorry i'm late in replying you've probably sorted your problem out by now. to be honest i never even thought about copyright when i did the quiz, perhaps i should have done, but i took most of my pictures from google images. i agree with you that if pictures are there then you should be able to use them, after all thinks of students using internet material all the time for their assignments. there is a limited audience and usually it is for charity so i just assumed it would be ok. let me know if you find out anything differently. LL

[jessiedog]

Thanks loopy lass for coming back to me. I'm nearly ready to release the quiz and have found copyright free image sites to use and also been a little sneaky by looking at the profiles on flickr - if they aren't from britain then I have reasoned that they are very unlikely to see my quiz. I think that perhaps I think too much about things and make it far more difficult than it needs to be.

Watch out for the quiz in near future - good luck