The Tedium of Imagery

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   Artimes Blaineposted 10 years ago

   Have you ever noticed that you spend more time allocating pictures and images for your hubs than you do actually writing it?

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      Barbara Kayposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, that is often true especially if you need to find photos. I've written hubs just because I have lots of photos for the subject.

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         Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I have spent hours sifting through pics on the net, trying to get good quality or trying to match it more closely to the subject matter of the hub. It takes about 3 hrs max to write a decent hub with very few grammar and spelling errors and it takes an hour and a half to 2 hrs to organize the hub properly, but actually finding images for the hub itself, now that takes a while. I have spent ten hours straight sifting through images. My eyes actually hurt afterwards and I still didn't find enough to suit my taste.

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      drpennypincherposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I usually use my own pictures that I take with my cell phone camera. That is the quickest and easiest way for me to get the pictures I want for my hubs and blog.  I sometimes use high quality pictures at Wikimedia Commons when I can't get a good one with my cell phone.

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      SpaceShantyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I always use flickr.com
      
      Go to 'Advanced Search', then enter what your looking for and then check the boxes 'Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content' & 'Find content to use commercially'
      
      This will bring up all the pictures you can legally use as long as you give credit (link to picture and owners name/ID)

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   psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

   I hit foter and wikimedia, do one search in each, and if I find no decent picture--I post no pictures. IMHO my hubs do not pay well enough to invest much time in finding pictures.

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      Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I use Google Images for most of my stuff. I always put my best into my hubs because I simply love writing and I refuse to do anything half-assed. If I'm going to do it then it will be my best. I will however take a look at foter and wikimedia as alternatives to Google Images. So thanks for the info. If anyone else has any suggestions about where to go to find images of decent quality then please post them here. Anything will be helpful and very much appreciated.

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         Barbara Kayposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Deleted
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            Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            I am mainly a fan fiction author. Sherlock, Inuyasha, YuYu Hakusho, The Legend of the Legendary Heroes, and Starcraft right now. I'll eventually have other animes and shows and I'll be doing some stand alone hubs soon on the Doctor and other shows that I watch. If you know of any sites that can help then please don't hesitate to post them here. I need all the help I can get.

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               Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Sometimes you can find a product on Amazon or eBay (like DVDs, books or movie posters) and you can post a large picture from those sites so long as you offer the product for sale.

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                  Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  That will definitely help with the Sherlock fic and maybe the inuyasha fic too. Good thing I do fics on relatively common shows, otherwise this would ridiculously hard.

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         Gemini Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Re. where to find photos - check out missolive (free photo websites: creative commons photographs, images and pictures) and flighty02 (50+ sites to get free royalty free stock photos and images) . . . but before you get excited about them being totally "free" keep in mind everything else that has been discussed in this forum!

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   psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

   The great majority of images you find on Google are not available to use, which is why I don't even bother looking there. Foter and Wikimedia allow me to search only for images I am able to use--which saves a lot of time.

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      Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I thought that if you gave credit where it is due, ie. include the link in which you found the image that it was okay. I do know that HP doesn't accept any images with watermarks which is why I don't use the images from deviantart. I was under the impression that images were fair game so long as they had the proper citation.

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         Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         You cannot use any image on the Internet without the permission of the copyright owner.  Just giving the owner a credit or a link does not give you permission to use it.  It's exactly like someone duplicating your Hub on another site without your permission but giving you credit. 
         
         You can get sued for copyright infringement.

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            Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Oh bollucks. Just blipping great. Now I'll probably have to replace the countless images I have used. Now I have several days of work ahead to do. Complete and total rubbish. Thanks for telling me though. At least it wasn't later down the road when I would probably have close to a hundred hubs. I only have 22 now, so it isn't too much of a game changer at this point. *facepalms* That's probably why I haven't gotten Google Adsense yet. The whole insufficient content thing.

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               Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Copyright infringement and plagiarism are against the AdSense Terms of Service.  If someone reports you to them for this, you will permanently lose your AdSense account.

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                  Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  What Adsense account? I haven't even been approved yet, but I did go to wikimedia commons and discovered that a lot of the images I am currently using are actually there, so I don't have as much work to do as I originally thought. Here is another thing I don't understand. HP will scream at us if use too many images from the same source, so how can I use the images from wikimedia if HP will just ping us for being overly promotional?

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                     Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                     You may have unlimited links to Wikipedia.  Not all Wikipedia images require links back.  You have to check each individual image.  Many are in the public domain and don't require anything; you don't even have to mention a source.

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                        Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                        *sighs heavily then a thought occurs to her* I just realize that I use a lot of images from Wiki, Wikia, and Wikipedia. Is Fan Pop considered okay for usage on HP? Because that's another source that I get a whole boat load of images from.

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                           Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                           It is against Fan Pop Terms of Service to post an image "without obtaining the prior written consent of the owner."  That, however, doesn't mean that every user plays by the rules.  It's up to you to find the original source of the image and to check for permission.  You can use the Google Images feature to check the image URL (the camera icon) or sites like tineye.com. Generally speaking, the original image is the one with the largest pixel size.   Any picture of famous people or movies is problematic and you should proceed with caution.

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                              Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                              That does present a problem. I am going to go into information overload at this rate. *sighs* I really do appreciate the help. I feel like such a noob at this. A month out of the gate and I'm already mucking up. *hangs head in dejection, storm cloud overhead*

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                                 Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                 Better to find out now than later and better to find out before a DMCA notice is filed and Google posts your name online (FOREVER) for copyright infringement!

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                                    Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                    Eeeeeek! *hides*

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                              Nero Walkerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                              So images of movies and actors aren't allowed? What can we use for movie reviews and such?

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                                 Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                 They are allowed on HubPages; you just have to find ones that you can legally use.  You can often find photos of celebrities on Wikipedia or on Flickr, but you have to make sure that you are allowed to reproduce the images and what attribution is required by the copyright owner.

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                                    Nero Walkerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                    Oh ok. Thanks, that helps.

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                     Millionaire Tipsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                     I use creative commons search for my photos:
                     
                     http://search.creativecommons.org/
                     
                     They find photos from many different sources and screen them for ones we can use for commercial purposes.  I find the best pictures on Flickr.  If I don't find what I am looking for, I find I am using the wrong search criteria.  I can often think of something related.
                     
                     When I was going through the apprenticeship program, I was told I wouldn't be dinged for too many links when it was to Flickr, because it is clearly not promotional.

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               Barbara Kayposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               If any of your hubs are about historical events, The Library of Congress has a site full of photos that are now in the public domain. Morgue Files is another site.

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   Writer Foxposted 10 years ago

   Actually, your Hubs don't even have to have an image.  Robin E. (HP staff in charge of education) has published 37.77% of her Hubs without an image and 64.70% of those are Editor's Choice Hubs.

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      Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah, but I've noticed that I get better scores when using images. Particularly since I do a lot of fan fiction and it helps break up the long text and helps the flow of the overall hub.

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   sehrmposted 10 years ago

   There is a google image search filter which only shows images which are labeled for specific rights usage (e.g. free usage). Most of the images come up are from wiki commons, anyway, but some are from tumblr, etc., and specifically labeled copyright-free. Hope this helps!

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      Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      sehrm, I could kiss you right now. You have made my day a lot brighter.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      It's inaccurate, though.   You still have to go to the original site and check, because often Google is wrong and the image isn't available for use at all.

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         Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         so is tumblr no good then? I do use a lot of images from wikipedia, wiki, and wikia. Particularly in my Starcraft fic. I may just go through and sift through images from all the wikis and use those because I am getting real tired of this copyright thing. How am I supposed to make fantastic looking hubs that really pop if all I am able to get is junk? Another question. Are screenshots taken by me considered to be okay or do I have to go some circuitous route for that too?

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   Writer Foxposted 10 years ago

   Most of what you need to know for HP is here:
   http://hubpages.com/learningcenter/legal-image-use
   
   However, some things recommended there are things that you shouldn't do.  For instance, don't give a followed link to any webpage that does not have content relevant to your Hub. All links as a source for images are followed links, so it is better to put non-relevant photo citations in a text module and use the NoFollow option for the links. (This is for SEO purposes so that Google won't hate your Hub.)
   
   You don't have to credit any image if the copyright owner doesn't require a credit and you don't have to give a link to any image if the copyright owner doesn't require one. 
   
   Also, be careful about using anything on Wikipedia without reading the attribution requirements for every image.

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      Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Don't hate me but I did not completely follow that. In fact, half of that was almost like trying speak Mandarin. I will, however, check out the learning center thing. Last time I was there I got very confused, so please bear with me. Once I learn it, I won't ask so many questions. I am still getting used to Hub Pages and this is the first time I have tried to do freelance writing for an online site. Sorry for being such a pain. *bows respectfully to Writer Fox senpai*

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   Artimes Blaineposted 10 years ago

   Okay, now under the advanced search on Google Images, I used a setting called free to use, share, or modify, even commercially. By using this setting, are the images found therein okay to use even if they are from say Deviant Art?

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      Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Everything on that site is under copyright.  For permission to use something, you have to contact the individual artist.

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         Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Aha! Take that google! Sorry, typed into the actual google search engine inuyasha public domain pictures and score! Turns out most of the images I am currently using are, in fact, already public domain. Now, it's just a matter of weeding out the ones that are not public domain. Time to see if I can, hopefully, get similar results with Sherlock. The HP learning center said that the images had to be public domain or to use as little copyrighted material as possible in our hubs.

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            Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Not quite.  The images have to be public domain or Creative Commons licenced for commercial use.   
            
            I'm amazed you're finding most images are public domain because that's usually the least likely.   Copyright photos are by far the most common.   It's easier to find CC licensed photos than public domain photos.
            
            Google is often wrong in the way it classifies photos - Deviant Art is a perfect example, its images are always included but they're copyright - so you have to go to the original site and check.  If there is no statement on the site about the photos, then they're copyright and you can't use them.  If you can find a statement that says they are public domain, you can use them.  If you can find a statement that says they are CC licensed, then you can use them provided you give credit - how, depends what it says on the site.
            
            I wrote a Hub on getting images from Flickr which explains it, you'll find it on the slider on my profile.

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               Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               As a general rule, I do not use Deviantart. Nine times out of ten they are watermarked or not of good quality. I have friends who use DA so I usually steer clear of it anyways. As for Flickr, a great deal of the images I use for my Sherlock fic are there so it puts my mind at ease a bit. I do have a question. Are images from say USA Today and GQ considered to be public domain or require citation, and if so, is it the same with other newspapers and magazines like Metro, etc?

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                  Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  You really, really, really need to sit down and read my Hub on Flickr. 
                  
                  Just because a photo is on flickr doesn't mean it's OK.  You have to be sure it's got the right licence.  Also, you can't use photos from Wikipedia - you must go to the original on Wikimedia Commons, check the attribution requirements, and follow them correctly (you'll see how to on my Hub). 
                  
                  You can have unlimited links to Flickr and Wikimedia Commons

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   DzyMsLizzyposted 10 years ago

   Most of the time, I take my own photos.  When I do not have access to the kind of photo I need, I will search the web.
   
   The 'trick' I use is to preface my search with "public domain..." before listing the type of image I want.  For example, on my recent article about parking, I searched, "public domain images parking lots"
   
   That usually returns a fair number of correctly sourced images or photos.  You do, however, still need to read the details with the individual photo, because Google search is not perfect,  (neither is Yahoo), and sometimes pay-for-use images from sites such as Shutterstock will be tossed into the mix. 
   
   If you want to use those, and pay the fee, that's fine.  I can't afford to, so I make sure to read and be sure it states that it is in the public domain. 
   Old, historical photos, prior to about 1923, I believe, are automatically public domain, or anything that states a Creative Commons license. 
   
   Also, any government site with photos that states the photo is taken by a government worker in connection with their job duties is allowed for your use.

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      Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      In the U.S., some old photos must be prior to 1894 to be in the public domain.  Here is a good summary of the copyright law:
      
      http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm

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   JessBrazposted 10 years ago

   I try to use my own photo's as often as I can.. but when I don't have good quality photos to use, I do find I spend a lot of time looking for photo's and videos... Though not as much time as I used to.. Marisa Wright wrote an awesome hub about using flickr photo's in your hubs (http://marisawright.hubpages.com/hub/Ho … -Your-Hubs) .. changed the way I hub.. now when I don't have my own photo's, flickr is the first place I go.
   
   Sometimes when I can't find what I need on flickr, a lot of the "official" web-sites I come across when I'm doing research usually have great photo's... that requires emailing the proper people and getting permission to use the photo's, which can sometimes take a while.
   
   

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    psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

    You can't post  fan fiction for shows under copyright on Hubpages. So I think you are going to have more problems

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       Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       But I put in a disclaimer and state that I do not own whichever show that I'm writing the Fan Fiction for, but that I do own my original characters and the plot. If I have to track down the name of the owner of the show then I will, so they may get proper credit. If fan fiction was against the law than fanfiction.net would been closed down a long time ago and sued from here to doomsday. Fanfiction even states that their are some authors that will not allow fan fiction of their work to be posted and these authors are respected by the fan fic writers and left alone. So I seriously doubt that I'll have that much of an issue with that one. The images on the other hand, now that is a bit trickier. Also if the shows I were writing fiction for were still under copyright then any and all footage and video that is posted on Youtube would have been removed saying that it is against the copyright. That has not happened to this date on any of the shows I currently use.

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          psycheskinnerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          It does not matter--the work is violating a copyright so you cannot post is here.  Sorry.

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          Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          On fanfiction.net, you don't get paid for your work.   I understand there is a fine line between writing fan fic as a fan, and writing it for profit - because you're profiting from someone else's work, you should be paying them a cut, and that's why you're more likely to get sued.
          
          So turning off the ads on your fan fic would be a good idea.

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    Mark Ewbieposted 10 years ago

    This whole conversation sums up why I started creating my own pictures.  Easier, quicker and does me just fine.
    
    I appreciate that may not be suitable for subjects other than stickmen but hey...  just feeling relieved that I don't have to mess with copyright law.

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       Millionaire Tipsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Mark, I thought of you when I saw this post.  I was going to say something like, "Ask Mark to draw something for you" but decided that might violate copyright restrictions, and you might not be interested so I decided to keep my mouth shut.

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          Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          If I was any good at drawing then I would simply take that route, but alas my gift is with words not with drawing. *hangs head in dejection*

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             Mark Ewbieposted 10 years agoin reply to this

             Me too Artimes - well apart from the words thing - but I lost all sense of shame. It's only the internet.

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                Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                Only the internet?! *stares with an incredulous expression on her face* You just have to worry about a few billion people reading your stuff and thinking snide comments, but who cares its only the internet. *facepalms* Okay, so I am little over critical about my work and it commonly makes me into a perfectionist, but reviews and comments are the air I breathe. If only truly thought about how many people use the internet, I think almost everyone would be a little weary or hesitant to post things. Well except for the narcissists and the certifiably insane. It's only natural to be slightly daunted in the face of all that.

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                   Mark Ewbieposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                   Lol - I might worry slightly more if a few billion looked at my output.  As it numbers slightly less than that I am reasonably relaxed about the whole thing.
                   
                   Here's my face-plant...
                   
                   
                   

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                      Will Apseposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                      Worst drawing ever, lol.
                      
                      edit: wow, I just got a billion emails agreeing with me.

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                         Mark Ewbieposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                         Oh no.  I better take this whole thing a lot more seriously.

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                      Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                      *giggles* I kinda like it.

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          Mark Ewbieposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          No probs MT - I wasn't offering services anyhow

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    Artimes Blaineposted 10 years ago

    It is official. I am unpublishing most of my hubs and starting up my novel which has been rolling around in my brain for over 15 years and it is about time that I get it down somewhere before I lose it all to time. Turns out that with the exception of the last ten stories published by Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock is public domain so I won't have to pull that down too. Just the other 12 hubs. I won't take the chance of being sued because of a copyright mix up. I'll just post the other fan fiction on fanfiction.net and focus on writing my novels. As for images, I might grab an opening image or two from flickr, but I wash my hands of that too. It's too much of headache to deal with and it's causing my stress level to go through the roof. I don't need an ulcer at 25.

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       Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Artimes, I'm sure you're not stupid, and the rules about using images are really quite straightforward.   It is confusing when it's all thrown at you piecemeal in a forum, but really, if you sit down and read my Hub, I'm sure you're more than capable of understanding it.
       
       The bottom line is - you'd hate it if someone copied all your articles and published them without asking, wouldn't you?   You might feel complimented if they gave you a hyperlink as credit, but what if they were making money off your article and not giving you a penny?
       
       Some photographers publish photos for fun, but many make a living from it.  Taking their photos and using them to earn income is exactly the same as someone using your articles that way.   So isn't it worth making a little effort to respect their work? 
       
       Yes, I know plenty of people on the internet do it - but do you say, other people are littering my street so it's OK for me to chuck my rubbish there too?   It's up to your conscience, really - and your assessment of the risk of getting sued.
       
       As for fan fiction - I don't know the law, and as far as I can see it's a grey area.  The best plan might be to write to team @ Hubpages.com and ask them for a ruling - they may say it's OK, who knows?

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          Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          Oh trust me, HP will hear about this because I have found no clear policy on fan fiction. Also I get the image thing, I really do which is why I am doing my 100% completely original stories. These stories will hopefully become novels one day and HP has a copyright option when you are making the hub. If it didn't, I would not be posting it here. Any images I use will be from wikimedia commons or flickr commons. I am tired of all this copyright stuff. I have a headache and I'm seriously pissed. What is the point of having a fan fiction section if you can't really use it? How many people do you know that write fan fiction for Henry VIII or Hamlet? Seriously, there isn't much of a point.

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    psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

    Only Sherlock Holmes  stories published prior to 1923 is public domain, and not the BBC series set in contemporary times.

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       Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       *sighs* just pull the plug.

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    psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

    Copyright holder have the exclusive right to create derivative works based on their property. The BBC has not waived those rights. This fanfiction breaks US copyright law and is not material to which the fanfiction author hold the necessary rights to post on Hubpages.
    
    The only websites that choose to allow posting this work and hope it will be tolerated are those that do not run advertising. If Hubpages as a content site running advertsing can be sued for actual and punitive damages.
    
    Basically, it is the same for text as for photos.

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       Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Not a problem. All of my hubs have been unpublished by me. I will not risk being sued or HP for that matter. There is no need to cause such turmoil for my chosen workplace. I will admit that it seriously pissed me off at first, but that is to be expected, considering the weeks of work I put into it, but I have discovered a different course of action to take. It is rather drastic one at that. I have finally begun to work on my series of novels and I will be posting them here on HP. The only reason I feel comfortable in doing so, is because HP provides a copyright option in the Hub Tool while you are preparing the hub. I would not post it otherwise. This series is my baby and is only one of two completely original ideas that I have come up with in my lifetime. There may come a time that I will remove it, but that is only to attempt to get it properly published as a novel. It has always been my dream to be a properly published novelist. I wouldn't even care if I didn't sell a single copy; though it would be a bonus. I just want to leave something behind to give future generations hope that humanity still has some shred of dignity and that there is hope for the future. All my life, I have read books. They gave me strength and taught me true values like courage, compassion, honor, honesty, valor, kindness, and forgiveness. It was books and remarkably, tv shows and movies that fashioned me into the person I am today. It does make me a bit of an oddball, given that the whole world has gone mad, but I wouldn't change a thing about how I grew up. Sure it was hard and often times, painful and lonely, but it was that loneliness that made me kind and the pain made me realize that I don't want anyone else to suffer from pain. Told you I was an odd one. *smiles*

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          Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          In that case, don't post them here!  HubPages is a HUGE HUGE target for content thieves, who will simply delete the copyright notice and use it anyway.   They may even translate it into other languages so your story will be published elsewhere in the world under someone else's name, and you won't even know about it.
          
          We're not trying to make you feel unwelcome, honestly.   It's just bad luck that both your ideas are not best suited to this particular site.   You sound like a good writer and if you were going to write non-fiction pieces, I'd say you would do very well here.  But the audience here for creative writing is low, and the risk of spoiling your chances of publication is very high.
          
          Have you thought about self-publishing your novels on Booktango?   Or perhaps doing a serialisation on Smashwords?

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             Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

             *blinks* I never heard of those. The only other site I knew about was fanfiction.net. and the Amazon and Ebooks thing require the entire novel and I haven't written the whole thing yet. Does Booktango and Smashwords pay? That was the whole point for me doing Hub Pages in the first place, because I couldn't get a 'normal' job.

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                Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                Booktango and Smashwords are ebook publishers so you would need your whole novel for that, too.
                
                Smashwords lets you publish your ebook in sections, but personally I wouldn't publish in chapters until you've got the novel almost finished - because if people have to wait more than a week or so for the next episode, they're going to lose interest.  And no author can possibly write, edit and polish a few chapters from scratch to publication standard in a week! 
                
                Honestly, if you need to make money online to replace your income, creative writing won't do it ANYWHERE.  Ask any creative writer here - many of whom write on other venues as well - creative writing online doesn't get much traffic and doesn't pay well.  You mentioned "billions of people" reading your work online - they won't.  Not even millions.  Maybe thousands if you're very lucky, but more likely not even hundreds.
                
                The reason is the way people find information online.  Think about it - how do you do it?  You search, probably on Google.  Google searches by looking at the words in your text, and matching them to the words searchers type in.  Ask yourself, what would people have to type into Google, to find your novels?   How likely are they to do that?   If you can't see lots of potential searchers, you won't get visitors and you won't earn money.
                
                A site like fanfiction.net gets browsing readers because it attracts fans of that particular genre.  Almost no one comes to generalised sites like HubPages to browse around.  I'm not sure of the current stats but around 90% of our readers come from one-off visits directly to individual Hubs from the search engines.
                
                It has always been hard to make money writing, and although it's easier to get your work published now, that's more than offset by the huge increase in competition.

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                   Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                   It simply means that I need to be more creative. If it doesn't work one way then do it another way. I am a Capricorn, thus very stubborn, and a Dragon, in the Chinese zodiac, thus meaning knowledge or wisdom. I'll find a way to do it, because I am clever and I get very annoyed when someone says it cannot be done or it is very difficult to accomplish. Nothing worth doing is ever easy and I am going to prove that one can make a good and proper living from writing. Why...because I am stubborn and it is the one thing I am truly good at and it actually makes me happy to do. If you don't like your job then you will not do your best, but if you love your job then it will not feel like work at all. I won't give up. It is just another step in the learning process.

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    RonElFranposted 10 years ago

    Thanks to Writer Fox for the link to Cornell's copyright term and public domain explanation. It's something I've been trying to understand for some time, and this gives a comprehensive explanation of what's in the public domain and what's not.

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16. 85

    DzyMsLizzyposted 10 years ago

    WTF is "Fan Fiction" anyway?????
    
    If someone is writing original fiction, then I fail to see how it can run afoul of any copyright laws.
    
    Images, yes; if they are using copyrighted images to accompany their fiction, that's an obvious breach of copyright laws.
    
    But there are bits of this thread that sound as if the "fan fiction" itself is the problem. 
    I've never heard of that genre before this thread, just as I'd never heard of "flash fiction" before sometime last year.  Both of which terms I first encountered here on HP.

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       Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       You should check out fanfiction.net. It will blow your mind. The term 'Fan Fiction' means that it is a story written by a fanatic or fan. This story uses pre-existing characters and locales. They can be from movies, books, and television series. Often times, fan fiction authors will insert original characters or OCs to shake things up a bit with pre-made characters to make them take a different course of action or have an entirely original plot line that takes place after the series has ended. Fan fiction is often stories that express the fan's desire for a different outcome or romantic pairing(s). I, myself, usually leave pre-existing pairings alone unless I use my OC to alter the story line, but that is very rare. I also do my stories after the events of the particularly series I am using is over and the plot developed by me is completely original. Perhaps you should take a gander at writing your own fan fiction as a fun little experiment. Who knows you may come to enjoy it as much as I do.

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17. 64

    Astra Nomikposted 10 years ago

    Getty Images are releasing their images for almost free ... some thirty million plus images... but there is a caveat added by Getty.
    So do read the terms and fine print before using it. Decide how the term Commercial use should be applied in your hubs.
    
    Anyone who creates their own images or obtains copyright free images will benefit and flourish. Pinterest seems to like images, and it is well fed with art and photos. Interesting thread.

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       Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       You can't use those on HubPages because they require a programming code that Hubbers cannot install on Hubs.

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18. 64

    Astra Nomikposted 10 years ago

    Oh I know. I was just referring to blogging in general. I use some Getty stuff on my magazine blog site. The embed feature for Getty images won't work on Hub Pages. Also, sometimes the widget shows adverts, and that might clash with other advertising on this platform.

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    DzyMsLizzyposted 10 years ago

    I have no problem with your decision; it is your business.  Just be advised that plenty of people have had their hubs copied by scrapers, copyright notices notwithstanding.  The simple statement that a piece is copyrighted does not seem to deter the truly unscrupulous, and many of those are in other countries, so they are very difficult to track down and get your work removed from their sites.
    If these books are truly "your babies," then I might suggest you try going the e-book route, instead of open publication anywhere online.  Just a thought.

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       Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       If that is the case, then I have nothing to post on HP whatsoever. If I did a hub on a particular show, explaining the seasons and the characters and such, then that too would be breaking the copyright because I would using it for profit. I am surprised people have not been pinged for them referencing to Star Trek, who has very strict copyright terms. Which truly does make me wonder what the heck HP is dong. All of my fan fiction passed the quality assessment and nothing was pinged for copyright issues, not the story or the images used. Shouldn't there be a subroutine or something that alerts the hubber that the material being used is copyrighted before it gets featured? It would save a great deal of time and a whole boat load of frustration if they included something like that in the quality assessment process, because quite often the hubber does not know that something is copyrighted or they believe that it is public domain. Sorry, just seems like a valid point, but it might be the exhaustion talking by this point.

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          Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          Artimes, I think you've misunderstood MsLizzy.  She's not accusing YOU of breaching copyright - she's telling you that other people will breach YOURS if you post here.

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             Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

             The point is still valid in any case and I know that she wasn't accusing me. I was making an observation and a suggestion based on that observation. The whole 'thinking outside the box' thing is kinda what I do. I didn't mean for it to come being hostile in any way, but you have to admit that it would save time to have something like that in the quality assessment process, so hubbers know what is okay and not okay to use. You would think that HP would try their best to prevent any possibilities of them or their authors being sued because that would generate negative publicity if that were to occur. *shrugs* I think too much...which is probably why I am a writer to begin with. Too many thoughts in my head and have to get them out or my head will explode. *BOOM* Too late.

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          Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          Since you know so much about writing fanfiction, why don't you write some non-fiction Hubs about the genre?  When you do publish an ebook, you can link to it from your Hubs.
          
          Fanfiction is a hot topic right now.  There are over 2,240,000 searches every month on Google for fanfiction and the AdWord bid from advertisers is about $1.
          
          Start your research here:
          http://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C2GGL … AT-9V3sXGg

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             Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

             Brilliant idea.

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             Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

             *blinks* I never actually thought about doing a hub about the fan fiction genre. A lot of people ask what fan fiction is and it's only logical that I do a hub on it. Thanks for the idea! Oooh, should I say multiple ideas. There is quite a bit about fan fiction. I could do a whole series. *face lights up as another idea pops into her mind* Oh that is brilliant. Excuse me, I have hubs to write.

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                Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                Yes!  So glad this has inspired you, thanks to WF for suggesting it.
                
                By writing a series on Fan Fiction, you can establish your name as being knowledgeable about that genre.  You may even want to create a Facebook page for the genre and post about the subject there, too -  you don't get paid for that, but you can attract followers who will then read your Hubs and buy your fan fiction stories if you publish them.  Hubber Agilitymach uses that method with great success.
                
                You might also want to look at publishing your fanfiction stories on Kindle Worlds.  It doesn't sound ideal but at the same time, it seems to be the only place where you can publish and actually earn from them:
                
                http://www.wired.com/underwire/2013/05/ … copyright/
                
                Not to mention the fact that it will help get your name "out there" as a writer.
                
                https://kindleworlds.amazon.com/

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                   Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                   Well I am working on my novel first and just posting my fan fiction back where it belongs, fanfiction.net. I do have to admit that I know my fair share about fan fiction. I spent a year reading fan fiction and have seen so many different styles and OCs. I have seen absolutely amazing fics and some truly atrocious ones too. Maybe I should do a Do's and Don'ts for successful fan fictions. I am still genuinely surprised that this thread just exploded as it did. It was just supposed to be about images and it just went *BOOM* and said we are this now! It is truly fantastic the amount of responses I got in this thread and truly awe inspiring. Not to mention, meeting people who actually 1.) Know what they are talking about and 2.) Can seriously help me figure stuff out. It makes me very happy to find such dedicated writers like me. I thought I was an oddball for sure.

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                      Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                      Writing online is a huge learning curve!   Many people start out in one direction and wind up heading in another.

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                         Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                         Well I have written in many directions and I guess it took one finial push for me to finally get started on doing completely original work. Which is very hard to do by the way! Coming up with a completely original idea when there are so many variations of so many things. It took me a long time to finally get to the point of even attempting to write my novels.

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                            Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                            Tell me about it.  But actually, I think the writing is the worst part.   I have one novel half way through and three others started, none of which is every likely to see the light of day at the rate I'm going...

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                               Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                               It takes patience, gumption, and the support of those around you to push through to the novel's inevitable conclusion. Yes. it is difficult, but nothing worth doing is ever easy. So don't give up because I'll be cheering you on the whole way!

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20. 60

    Artimes Blaineposted 10 years ago

    Wow, this thread really took off. I am pleasantly surprised and very humbled by all the responses.

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21. 60

    Artimes Blaineposted 10 years ago

    Well I finally got a non-fiction hub up and I used an image from the Open Clip Art Gallery on Wikimedia Commons. So if you want to know more about fan fiction then go read it. Which by the way, I will be doing a series for fan fiction because there is quite a bit more about fan fiction to be told.
    
    Also a special thank you for all you wonderful people who helped me out and was patient with this ridiculously ignorant newbie.

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       Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks to you too, because you taught me something too!   I didn't know the meaning of "fan fiction" before this conversation.

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          Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          Don't worry, I have plenty more to tell you about fan fiction. In fact, I recently learned some new stuff myself so I will definitely being doing a hub for the new information.

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       Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       I'm glad you wrote an article about fan fiction.  Just a bit of advice:  If I were you, I would remove the entire quote from Wikipedia.  First of all, it contains 5 links to Wikipedia which really sends a bad message to Google.  Secondly, readers won't like that.  Write your own definition and the Hub will be much better!

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          Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          Well I was in a hurry because my dad is visiting and I have to go be social with him. *shudders* I'll fix the wikipedia thing tomorrow...if my dad doesn't drag me out of the house...again. A 2 week visit from my father is equivalent to 2 yrs. This is being a true test of my patience. But besides the wikipedia quote, any other comments or suggestions, Writer Fox-sempai? I rely quite heavily on your council because you tell it to me straight and are not talking me in circles.

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             Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

             My only slight criticism was that I thought there were too many polls.

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                Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                Well I didn't feel like going through the headache of doing images, so I did polls instead. I'll probably switch some of the polls out later for a quiz, maybe another image or two, but I needed some sort of divider to help break up all the text capsules.

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          Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          Also Fox, you would have noticed that the third option was my definition.

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22. 81

    Mark Ewbieposted 10 years ago

    I'll comment here rather than on your page.
    
    In what way is writing "gift-related".  I am curious to know.  Thought I might write a piece about it.

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       Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       In psychology, it is referred to as one's divine spark. This divine spark is a natural ability or skill that a person possesses. It is most commonly the thing or activity that makes that particular person the most happy. In my case, writing would be my divine spark. It also makes me very happy.

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          psycheskinnerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          I am not sure what school of psychology that would be within.  It seems more of the religious concept.  I am happy for people who feel their talents have a divine origin but it is not something that is applicable to all people.

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             Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

             Hey blame my psychology professor for that reference. It was actually in one of the psych books. The term 'divine' is simply a descriptive word to explain a person's natural ability, basically to say that they are very good.

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                psycheskinnerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                I would question the legitimacy of that interpretation. Divine means 'relating to God'. So, that could be pop psych maybe, but not part of psychological science.

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                   Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                   I'm just telling you what was in the textbook. I forget which one it was in but it was back during my psych class in high school. It's not the first time I have heard this reference either. It was also mentioned in my creative writing class in college then in my drama class and another psych course in college, so who knows. Just telling you what I know.

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                      psycheskinnerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                      And I am just saying, as a psychologist, that I disagree that such a concept has any place in mainstream psychology.  Possibly one of the minor schools with mystic/gnostic elements.

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                         Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                         well it was a community college so I wouldn't be surprised, but I don't really mind the whole religion thing in schools, so long as it doesn't interfere with the learning environment and doesn't start a contradiction war that gives people headaches.

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23. 92

    Sherry Hewinsposted 10 years ago

    I actually enjoy finding the right images for my hubs. I often use my own photos. However, if I don't have one, and can't get one, Flickr Creative Commons and Wikimedia are the first sites I check.

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       Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       When I first began here on Hub Pages, I didn't know anything about creative commons license and I knew a little about public domain. I was pretty much a newbie in every sense of the word, so things have been pretty rocky for me and weeks of work got flushed down a toilet because of my ignorance. That's why I am so hesitant when using images because I spent weeks collecting images and source names and URLs to go with my hubs then to have all that work be for nothing. It seriously pissed me off. If it were not for this forum and all these wonderful people then I might not have come up with the idea for my new series of non-fiction hubs.

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          Sherry Hewinsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          Sorry it caused you so much trouble, I guess you got off to a bad start with images. I hope it gets better for you. Once you know how to do it, it's not hard.

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             Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

             I'm sticking with the Open Clip Art Gallery on Wikipedia Commons. Those are all public domain and can be used commercially. They may not be what I wanted but it keeps me out of trouble.

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                Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                Careful, because Wikimedia Commons are not all public domain.  Many of them are CC licensed.  It's really important that you look at the licence on each individual photo there.  Also, if the licence refers to Flickr as the source, go to the original on Flickr and make sure it's OK to use.
                
                Wikimedia Commons is monitored by volunteers and they have a hard time keeping up with the number of photos posted every day.

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                   Artimes Blaineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                   That's why I'm only using the Open Clip Art Gallery. I read into it and everything in the Gallery is public domain, all clip art in the Gallery has had all creator's rights waved so that they are considered !00% public domain.
                   
                   The reason behind using just the clip art, is that I don't have time to being searching for images. I'm in the middle of writing a novel (which will most likely become my main source of income) and there is simply not enough time to go image hunting, license verifying, and URL confirming.

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