On Posting Pictures - Hotlinking with IMG Tags, Copyright Issues, and Street Shots

[Flaxen]

I assume that sites like Icanhasacheeseburger.com who say you CAN hotlink to their images are exempt from this?

Correct. Permission changes everything.

Hmmm... well ok, this is a new one to me. I have never seen a message board have such rigid rules before regarding posting pics.

They aren't our rules. It's copyright law that we want to abide by, and since copyright boils down to respect for another's work, why wouldn't we want to abide by it?

Hotlinking I can understand, although not really alot of people/webmasters/mistresses complain about that as the server bill is just one set fee a month now with most hosting companies. I know I pay $25. dollars a month for my site and it doesn't matter if someone hotlinks a picture or not... the price stays the same.

But what about bandwidth limit? How many kbs of transfer does your $25.00 buy? If it's unlimited, that's great. If there's a limit, and it's all used up by hotlinkers, when someone then tries to go to your site, they'll get a bandwidth exceeded message, and your site won't be viewable until the next month turns over. It's like allowing someone to tap into the utility pole outside your house and run their appliances while you pay for it. Oh, and you might not be able to run your appliances at the same time.

So, there will be no smilies posted on the board that aren't a part of this board or even LOL Cats/Kittehs photos

The answer to that is above.

... and we can't post pics in our album or on the board that we didn't take/create ourselves. I guess we will have to remove all pics that we put in our albums that we didn't take ourselves... random pics we found on the internet that we liked and right-clicked and saved and just uploaded to a photo hosting site... also avatars, correct?

Legally, strictly speaking, yes, we should all do that.

I guess what I don't understand is how are the people in authority here going to know what is legit and what is not? and are these terms going to be enforced with everybody including "favorites?" Or is this just subject to the report post button?

We're going to do our best, like we always do. Yes, the report button may be used to alert us to pictures with copyright issues.

Do I need written permission to post a pic that I did not take?

From us? No. From the photographer, yes, unless he/she gives permission on his/her site or the image is out of copyright. And if you do get permission, a quick "posted with permission" along with the picture is always nice. And no, we're not going to make you prove it.

So it's fine to post a 'public domain' image that we've hosted ourselves, or a pic from a site that is meant for free public use (such as LOLcat or smiley images)?

That's it!

I am also wondering how admin. will determine what is public domain or posted with permission and what is not. It would be mighty difficult to check every picture posted on this site.

For the most part, we're not. Time constraints mean we err on the side of copyright protection, and we change the picture to a link. It's not that big of a deal, really, since the picture can still be viewed with just a click, but it makes every difference, legally.

Umm, folks, this isn't a change of rules; this is just a clarification and a reminder. I'm sure the moderation team have no intention or inclination to check every photo posted here.

Thanks, BG! You're right, we're not going to check every image, unless you're volunteering?