I have been in touch with the people at Morguefile.com with regards to how they want people to give credit to the photos they use. On another forum there has been a considerable amount of confusion about this, but in addition to the guidelines they list on their site, this is the final word for those of us who write online:
You are free to use the photos unedited because the photos are creative fodder for the articles and not the main content, so they aren't using them in a stand-alone basis // including them in an article is a "creative adapation." Including them amidst text and other content counts as an edit or alteration. You're fine, this is in agreement with the License.
To be honest, very few photos on the site require a model or property release, I just always write it in the emails to be clear with people.
Sorry this is so confusing; we don't mean to throw "new news" on you. I do believe that somewhere on our website, we should make a list of commercial VS. non-commercial uses for images, to clarify.
Thank you for getting information from the horse's mouth, TIMETRAVELER2. The MorgueFile response correlates with the responses I received directly from the photographers I contacted who said use whatever I want and I don't have to ask.
The confusion has caused us so much unnecessary frustration. Great suggestion for HP to clarify this in the Learning Center, which is the first stop for hubbers who are trying very hard to do the right thing.
Thanks again for your persistence in getting it straight.
Thank you very, very much for this news, TIMETRAVELER2. I've been following the discussion about morgueFile with alarm because I've used a lot of their images on my hubs. The way in which their license was being interpreted in the forum sounded so strange to me. Still, I was preparing myself for the huge job of going through my hubs and changing images. It's such a relief to read the mail that you got!
AliciaC I only wish I had waited for this news. I corrected 400 plus articles on HP, Bubblews and my Blog and NOW it gets straightened out! I just did not want anybody else to have to go through what I went through...which is why I started a separate thread on this one. People are very quick to give advice, and they mean well, but I've learned it's always wise to do your own homework on issues like this. This is not the first time someone's "advice" drove me down the long, tedious road of unnecessary article repair.
The confusion arose because Morguefile's own guidance on the matter seems to imply otherwise:
"The morguefile license is specifically for designers and illustrators to use the images in a creative process creating work of their own. If you would like to use the image in a blog post, we recommend contacting the photographer and providing a by line under the photo with the photographer's name. This is generally agreed to be acceptable."
http://morguefile.com/about
I agree that they need to clean up their definitions, but some of the HP authors muddied the waters with assumptions rather than facts. Now we all have the facts right from the source, and I hope they help everybody, at least with the Morguefile photos.
by tamron 11 years ago
I looked everywhere on bing but can't find if the images can be used or not and if they can be used who do you give credit too Bing or the link?
by Jasmeet Kaur 11 years ago
How to give credit to photos if you are using random photos from google search?
by writerjoy 13 years ago
Am a newbie here although an experienced writer. I'm just wondering on which website I can get a wide range of photos or videos that I can use for my hubs. Spent hours looking online for one to no avail. creativecommons.org had no photos I could use. My hub is about divorce and legal separation....
by Jadeofheart 10 years ago
Hello, happy new year, thanks in advance for helping me out. I'm new here, and I would like to ask, where do you guys get your photos? Hubpages clearly stated that we need to use original photos? But, I'm not a photographer nor have any budget to purchase photos whatsoever. I'm wondering, what if I...
by Eaglekiwi 15 years ago
Usually I ask for permission if a pic says ,this ---may be copywrited etc ,but wondering if there are some sites that I dont need to ask . Thank-you.
by Jeff Davis 15 years ago
is it necessary to cite the origin of your photos if you downloaded them from somewhere? and is it necessary to copyright or somehow mark photos posted that you yourself has taken? thank you in advance for any input.
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