Referencing Images

[PaulGardinerLP]

Hey guys, I am currently in the process of building the HTML and CSS structure of a website for a friend. The website will use images, but the images that will be used will most likely be from Google image searches. I understand that any images used will belong to a third party. Will I be able to use any images I wish, as long as I reference them correctly somewhere in the HTML code? If so, how will I go about doing so? Would it be within the "alt" attribute? Any help with using third party images and referencing will be greatly appreciated. Unfortunately the organisation I am building the web site for doesn't have a photographer and are highly unlikely to employ one. I will be happy to answer questions regarding the web site if it will help me get an answer. Thanks in advance.

Edited June 22, 2012 by PaulGardinerLP

[Ingolme]

Just put the URL of the image in the src attribute of the <img> tag. If the image doesn't show up they might have a hotlinking protection. Make sure you have permission to use these images, if a mad copyright owner goes after you you'll be in trouble.

[Guest So Called]

At least in the US images (and any other kind of works including literary, artistic, etc.) are default copyrighted to the person who created them. There is no requirement for the creator to attach a copyright notice. (But that's a good idea. Every single page on all my websites has a copyright notice.) You may not use copyrighted works without permission or you risk a lawsuit. Neither is it any excuse to use a work without permission and attach an attribution notice. (That's a common misconception.) Hot linking is considered poor practice but is not illegal. The smarter website operators prevent such hotlinking, often by means of Apache's .htaccess file and requiring a referrer of an image to be the host site. (IMO hot linking is more excusable in personal non-profit websites, i.e. some average persons web page.) Hot linking carries some risk. Any such use appears in the server logs of the site you're "borrowing" bandwidth from and they can track you down. They could change their image name and for their site and substitute an offensive image (maybe even X rated) with the same name as you're linking to, and the offensive image would pop up on your website until you notice it. If you're running a commercial site then just how would that look? Very bad! Remember that Google searches just locate images, they are not offering you any permission to use them because Google usually does not have permission to use them. One good source of images may be Wikipedia commons. They have a large set of images that are licensed for public domain, and I think the only requirement is to attach a copyright notice that the images belong to WC. If you are in the US you may find this site interesting: http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/

[birbal]

There is many free stock photography sites. some of it needs permission,some of are for personal use etc. if you google 'free stock photography site' you will get many. Be cautious about license. http://sixrevisions.com/resources/15-best-places-for-designers-to-get-free-stock-photos-online/

[PaulGardinerLP]

Thanks for your help guys.