How to LEGALLY Use Others' Images on HubPages

Though it is best to use one's own photos and images on HubPages (doing so can add extra authority, originality, usefulness, and flair to a Hub), there are times when we lack the time and resources to take photos or create images to cover all topics and subjects on which we write.

Luckily, HubPages makes it easy to import images from elsewhere online that have been created by other people. Though all you have to do is insert an image URL into the Photo Capsule to import an image, the process of LEGALLY using others' images online is more complicated than that.

To use a photo or image created by someone else on your own Hubs, you must have the right to do so. Not every image you see online is up for grabs. So let us take a look at what is not OK to use, and then we'll delve into various resources for images that are OK to use!

On HubPages, it is not OK to...

• Use an image with a watermark. Watermarks detract from a Hub's overall appearance. If you own the photo, we recommend attributing your photo to yourself in the attribution box. All photos are legally copyrighted to the owner even if they are not watermarked or attributed. If you would like to purchase digital watermarks for your images and track who uses your images, you can do so at www.digimarc.com. You can also use the free service tineye.com to find out if any of your images are being used around the web.
• Use an image that you have found just on Google Images. Many people search on Google Images and just credit "Google Images" for their photos. This is incorrect. Google Images did not create that image, nor does it host it. Google Images helps you find images, but it is not the best tool for finding images to use, as not all of those images are licensed to be used by other people.
• Use an image that you found on a random website. Unless it comes with a Creative Commons license that allows for commercial use (does not include "Non-Commercial" in the license stipulations)
• Use an "Attribution" image and not attribute the author. Many Creative Commons images come with an "Attribution" license, which means that you can use the image, but only if you credit the author. If you do not credit the author, you are not using the image legally. Crediting an author requires both a name and a URL, both of which can be entered into the Photo Capsule.
• Use a "Non-Commercial" image if you have ads turned on for your Hub. If you are earning money from your Hub, it is commercial, and you can therefore not use images that have been designated for only non-commercial use.

There are some other scenarios in which it is not OK to use another person's image, but these are the most common mistakes Hubbers make.

There are three primary ways to obtain images that you legally have the right to use:

• Use your own images
• Purchase images
• Use images that are Attribution Only, Attribution, No Derivatives, or Attribution, Share-Alike so long as you conform with the stipulations set out in those licenses

You can purchase relatively inexpensive images from sites such as iStockphoto, which has a huge library of both photos and graphics. That said, there are many great sites online where you can find images that you can legally use for free. Let us have a closer look at those.

We've made it pretty easy to correctly attribute images on HubPages by providing a space for you to list the author, license, and source of each image, as well as to put the source URL (in addition to, of course, your caption, should you choose to add one).

Here is how you should enter the information:

• In the first text box for each image, put: IMAGE AUTHOR NAME, LICENSE (abbreviated), via SOURCE SITE (e.g. Betty Sue, CC-BY, via flickr)
• In the second box, put the URL of the page where the image came from
• In the final box, put any caption you might want to add

Check out the images below to get an idea of what proper attribution should look like.

If you're wondering what the various Creative Commons licenses mean, here is the explanation from the Creative Commons website:

• Attribution: CC BY:This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. This is the most accommodating of licenses offered. Recommended for maximum dissemination and use of licensed materials
• Attribution-ShareAlike: CC: BY-SA:This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work even for commercial purposes, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms. This license is often compared to “copyleft” free and open source software licenses. All new works based on yours will carry the same license, so any derivatives will also allow commercial use. This is the license used by Wikipedia, and is recommended for materials that would benefit from incorporating content from Wikipedia and similarly-licensed projects.
• Attirbution-NoDerivs: CC BY:ND:This license allows for redistribution, commercial and non-commercial, as long as it is passed along unchanged and in-whole, with credit to you.
• Attribution-NonCommercial: CC BY-NC:This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, and although their new works must also acknowledge you and be non-commercial, they don’t have to license their derivative works on the same terms
• Attirbuion-NonCommercial-ShareAlike: CC BY-NC-SA: This license lets others remix, tweak, and build upon your work non-commercially, as long as they credit you and license their new creations under the identical terms.
• Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs: CC BY-NC-ND: This license is the most restrictive of [the] six main licenses, only allowing others to download your works and share them with others as long as they credit you, but they can’t change them in any way or use them commercially.

For even more information and explanation, visit the Creative Commons website by visiting the link to your right.

As you can see from the license descriptions above, not all Creative Commons images are free for you to use. Only Attribution, Attribution-ShareAlike, and Attribution-NoDerivs licenses are available for your use on HubPages (so long as your Hubs are considered commercial) as you stand to earn from your work.

So long as images are in the public domain or have a Creative Commons license that permits your using them, you can get images from anywhere. Two of the most popular sources for photos with Creative Commons licenses and public domain images are Wikimedia Commons and Flickr.

Wikimedia Commons is where you can find many of the public domain and Creative Commons images that are used in Wikipedia articles. This is a great resource for educational images, graphs, and diagrams, as well as all sorts of photos.

To find and use a photo on Wikimedia Commons...

1. Type a keyword in the search bar
2. Browse the resulting images
3. When you've found one you like, click through to its page
4. Click on the "Use this file on the web" link above the image
5. Navigate to your HubTool in another tab or window and add/open a Photo Capsule
6. Go back to the image's page, copy the File URL, and enter that into the box under the import section of the Photo Capsule in the HubTool, then import the image
7. Go back to the image's page, copy the Attribution information, and paste that into the Name of Source section
8. Go back to the image's page, copy the Page URL information, and paste that into the Source URL section
9. Write in any description you might like to add
10. Click save

While not every image on flickr is there for you to use as you please, some images have been given Creative Commons licenses that you are free to utilize.

To find these images, go to Flickr Creative Commons and click the "see more" link associated with photos with an:

• Attribution License
• Attirbution-NoDerivs License
• Attribution-ShareAlike License

Alternately, you can do an advanced search on Twitter by going to the Advanced Search page and checking the "Only search within Creative Commons-licensed content" and "Find content to use commercially" boxes.

So long as you provide attribution and conform with the other stipulations of these licenses, you're free to use these images in your Hubs. Be sure to include both the username of the author and the author's URL in your attribution; ideally you would include the license information as well.

Sometimes photos you have on your computer that you consider to be yours, were taken by other people (e.g. a wife, son, uncle, friend, etc.). Though often those photos have been given to your or taken with your camera, keep in mind that technically, whoever takes a photo retains copyright to that photo.

Therefore, even when you use your own photos, you need to ask for permission whenever using images taken or created by someone else, and establish how this person would like to be cited. Though many friends and family members will be happy to share their work, some may prefer that you make certain licensing notes (e.g. that the image is copyrighted, or CC-BY-SA). It never hurts to check!

While the issue of legal image use may seem overwhelming at first, it is far better to be informed and legitimate than to inadvertently steal another person's work.

We take copyright seriously and respect the legal rights that all Hubbers on HubPages have for their own work. We therefore encourage equal respect of the work—be it writing, photographs, images, or something else entirely—of those on other websites as well.