Whatbird.com

i have a question for you folks .. i noticed a couple of places here where people aren't posting their own photos, but various peoples....copywrite laws aside, i thought they were suppose to show photos of birds you took...are there some ground rules for this?...just curious

Not sure that I fully understand your question birdseye.  Are you asking if when people post pictures that they didn't personally take that they are suppose to state where the pic came from and who took it?

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Matthew 6:26

I think I understand what you mean, Birdseye. I, for example, don't have a camera I can download pictures with, and therefore use other pictures of the birds I've seen. However, I do copyright all of the photos in my gallery. Example:

The Red-Headed Woodpecker picture in my gallery has a description that reads:

This is one of my favorite birds. Beautiful red cap and contrast.

(C) ucb411 (Flickr) 2007

 

I think putting a good picture in your gallery makes it easier to identify a bird in question. All the time, posts say "see my gallery." Unless the pictures are of very good quality, they can be misleading. Therefore, I think it is appropriate and OK to use, only if copyrighted and respected, pictures that are not your own. Otherwise, I don't know of any rules against this.

 Yours in birding,

 

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ZBirdNerd

Year List (since 5/21):

Total: 90
This Week: Eastern Meadowlark, Cockatiel Parakeet, Northern Mockingbird, Snow Goose, Northern Rough-Winged Swallow
Favorites: Red-Headed Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Black-Crowned Night-Heron

Zbirdnerd, you state: "However, I do copyright all of the photos in my gallery."...actually you can't "copywrite" any of those pictures..only the photographer, or their emplyoer can...law says you gotta have written permission, agreement to copy or display copywritten pictures...with of without you giving credit by the photo...i think i am too anally retentive for this site...so thanks for all the time and help you guys have given...adios.

OK, what I meant to say is that I included all of their copyrights on the descriptions of the images. It is hard to explain.

On all the pictures I have displayed, I've included the fact that these pictures are so-and-so's, and that I respect them by not stealing their images, etc. and calling them my own. Never have I said that these pictures were mine. I am sorry that what I am doing may not seem right, but I am doing everything in my capability to make things easier for everyone in the birding community. I appreciate your concern and sincerely hope that you will continue to take part in WhatBird. Therefore, I will now remove all photos except those of my own from my gallery. Please stay an active member of WhatBird.

Sincerely,

ZBirdNerd.

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ZBirdNerd

Year List (since 5/21):

Total: 90
This Week: Eastern Meadowlark, Cockatiel Parakeet, Northern Mockingbird, Snow Goose, Northern Rough-Winged Swallow
Favorites: Red-Headed Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Black-Crowned Night-Heron

Hey, birdeye!! You leavin' us?!  Don't go!

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Matthew 6:26

Birdseye,

I know we have had a posting on this topic sometime in the past but I can't seem to find it.  It would have been in the past year and I'm horrible with time lines..... Anyway, what I got out of it was that you should not post a copywrited photo without permission from the owner but that it was probably OK to post a link to the site where the image is because you could just "Google" it and find it anyway. That is putting it in my very simplistic way.  There was quite a discussion on the topic. Some of the images do say that they may be used for educational purposes.  Alot of the photos that you can pull up on Google are for sale and actually do say that they cannot be used with out permission.

Maybe we can have some of the photographers who do copywrite their photos tell us how they feel about the subject.

You can aslo "Google"  copywrite  and read alot about it.

 

BUT..... Birdseye - PLEASE do not leave us!  We would really miss you!

Nancy

 

I'm pretty sure you can copy and post any photo you find on the net due to the 'Fair Use' clause. As long as you don't use the images for any sort of commercial venture, it should be ok.

birdseye:

i have a question for you folks .. i noticed a couple of places here where people aren't posting their own photos, but various peoples....copywrite laws aside, i thought they were suppose to show photos of birds you took...are there some ground rules for this?...just curious

Badfinger nailed the concept as being covered by Fair Use. As long as you are only showing the photos for non commercial use, its okay to post an image from another source. Just take a look at Google Images. They show almost every illustration in WhatBird. Google (and other search engines) provide links to the original image as well. It is considered a courtesy to include the source of the image but its not mandatory. 

You mean to say that I didn't need to delete all those pictures in my gallery?!?!?!?

I've got some work to do.

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ZBirdNerd

Year List (since 5/21):

Total: 90
This Week: Eastern Meadowlark, Cockatiel Parakeet, Northern Mockingbird, Snow Goose, Northern Rough-Winged Swallow
Favorites: Red-Headed Woodpecker, Eastern Phoebe, Black-Crowned Night-Heron

Badfinger is right.... the owner knowingly posts photos on the internet, where billions can see them and do with them what they please.  The only thing the publisher/owner can do is copywrite them.

 

I have used Google pics in thread before to help assist in identification.... like 2 days ago I posted a photo of a N. Mockingbird in flight to help someone figure out a bird.  I wrote that it was taken from google, and a link to the original site.  What more can you do??

 

If an owner.publisher doesn't want their photos seen/used/whatever...don't put them on a resource that the enitre universe has access to.

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**MoJo's Warbler Watch** --> 23 species; Most recent->Orange-crowned (9/20), Palm (9/30)

**2008/Life Total** --> 210 species;
Most recent-> Horned Puffin (9/17), Red-faced Cormorant (9/17), Harlequin Duck (9/17), Golden-crowned Sparrow (9/20)

MoJoWaxSwinger:

  I wrote that it was taken from google, and a link to the original site.  What more can you do??

If an owner.publisher doesn't want their photos seen/used/whatever...don't put them on a resource that the enitre universe has access to.

 

Well said!

birdseye:

Zbirdnerd, you state: "However, I do copyright all of the photos in my gallery."...actually you can't "copywrite" any of those pictures..only the photographer, or their emplyoer can...law says you gotta have written permission, agreement to copy or display copywritten pictures...with of without you giving credit by the photo...i think i am too anally retentive for this site...so thanks for all the time and help you guys have given...adios.

Birdseye you and I have a difference of opinion with some things IE post edit work and we have gone head to head with on a number of occasions. But I also value your input .

I think this is a heat of the moment statement that you made here and as such I would be very sorry to see you go and ask that you stay in this community. The way I see things are as this no matter where people congregate there is always going to be a difference of opinions and that is a good thing it also means that we all need to try new things learn from others and allow others to express there opinions.

Regards Peter

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Birds high above in the trees Serenade the flowers with their melodies

Birdseye is correct.

Just because a photo is posted on the Internet does not convey that it is public domain or eligible to be copied under the "fair use" doctrine.  The copyright belongs to the photographer whether or not there is a copyright notice posted with or on the photo, and all rights are reserved by the photographer unless specifically granted in writing. 

"Fair use" is generally restricted to limited copying of portions of a work in an educational context such as class handouts or quoting sections of a book for purposes of a review.  The commercial nature of the derivative work is not the issue.

I have had my photos appropriated on other web sites without my permission and I have not been happy about it.  Those are my photos.  If you want them, please ask first.  I'm not hard to find.

However, there is no problem with linking to photos that I have posted providing that the link goes to the original page and does not "hot-link" directly to the photo.  I want the text and the context of my presentation to be preserved.  

I have lots of photos made by others on my own web-site, but in all cases they were sent to me directly by the photographers who have asked me to post them.  Sometimes others write to me asking permission to use those photos and I invariably refer them to the original photographer who owns the copyright.  My use is for one-time only on my site.  I have no further rights.  

Anybody who thinks that those photos are in the public domain or covered under "Fair Use" is seriously mistaken.

I am not a lawyer, but I have looked into this issue and have received legal advice on the subject.  Anybody wanting to post photos that are not their own, here or anywhere should seek professional legal advice.  They should not rely on what I or others say. 

When in doubt ASK PERMISSION FIRST!

 

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Joseph Morlan
Fall Birding Classes in San Francisco start September 9