Searching Images for Your Website? Don’t Steal Them

May 18th, 2016 Kimberly Blogger Tips and Tricks 63 Comments

18th May

Recently I have had a rash of blogs/websites using my coffee cup and stack of books logo for their header, to announce world book day, as a book cover, and everything from blog challenges to selling etsy products. My logo image even appears in a teaching video for second graders and an online newspaper for a small northeastern town. A student lawyer was using it ironically on her law site. Oops! The worst was a Blog Designer who designs blogs. They used my image and sold it! An online site was selling my image for book plates, gift tags, and memo pads. Another freelance designer sold my image as one they created for a Publishing PR firm. It made me sick. Now I realize coffee and books are two very awesome things and my logo is adorkable but seriously people you need to be careful when grabbing images of the web.

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child - Parts I & II

Searching Images for your Website

The coffee cup and books design on my website were designed exclusively for Caffeinated. I spent two weeks emailing, chasing down, and having to issue DMCA Takedown letters for eleven sites and I am still working on others. I tried reaching out to sites first privately by email and commented before I began having them removed.

It made/makes me feel ugly sending out all these emails. I got angry and yeah at one point I even cried… I even debated ditching my lovely design.  I am all about spreading the love and caffeinating the world and I hated how this affected me. 

Thankfully most folks responded immediately but those responses perplexed me.  They made me realize how many folks are uneducated in copyright law and finding safe images for use. Responses were  “I am sorry.” “My daughter is a photographer and said if there is no watermark it is free.” “But I found it on Google (Tumblr. Pinterest)” “I changed it, doesn’t that make it ok.” or the worst, “Well next time put a copyright mark on it. The only reason I used it was because it didn’t have one.” As if it were my fault they stole my image. *hangs head*

Using a copyrighted image could get your website taken down, but it could also get you sued. Ask the blogger who used an image of a green pepper. Read her post  The 7, 500 Blogging Mistake. My image reflects my brand Caffeinated Book Reviewer. Using the image to cover male anatomy could adversely affect my brand. (Yep, my little books and coffee were covering male junk) Aside from a few cases which I am legally pursuing,  I was happy just to get my image removed.

Is someone using your image? Easy take down forms for Blogspot, how to for WordPress.com sites for .org sites you will need to contact their host. It isn’t very hard. First use Who Is Hosting This? and find out who hosts the blog/website. Then google how to serve a DMCA take down notice to XXX host. Most have forms you can fill out. GoDaddy had a super user-friendly form, others were a little harder to find, but all took my notification seriously and acted quickly.

As much as it pains me because I truly think people are inherently good, I stopped contacting folks and just began issuing Takedown Notices. It was less stressful and far less time-consuming. I didn’t have to deal with excuses or folks asking me for a week to create a new design.*Oh yes, they did* Seriously?

Educate yourself on Images

A groovy banner is not cool if it contains stolen images.


Facts About Searching for Images:

*Some of these may seem obvious, but these were the excuses folks used for STEALING my image.

  • Images found on Google are not free for use. The blog designer, got upset when I notified her of the theft. She proclaimed I didn’t steal it from your site, I got it from Google. No people! Just No. Images on Google are not copyright free. My image is out there because Google grabs images from all sites. It appears when someone shares my content.
  • An image does not have to contain a watermark, copyright symbol or signature to be copyrighted. Just because there is no visible watermark or a blog name splashed all over the image doesn’t make it free for use.
  • If an image has a Pinterest pin it option it DOES NOT mean you can use it for your website.  I saw a comment where someone said, I only use images that have the Pinterest pin. Gads..no when it is pinned to Pinterest it links back to the source. It doesn’t mean you can download the image and use it.
  • Taking an image, modifying it by remove parts or changing its color does not negate copyright infringement.
  • Adding a link back or acknowledgment of image owner is not ok unless you are given permission  A blogger using my image when notified tried to add a credit ” png from Caffeinated Book Reviewer.”  Nope..not unless the owner has given you permission.
  • Vectors fall under the same copyright laws. Photos, paintings, vectors all have copyright laws.
  • Images on Wiki are not all free, although a lot fall under fair use and common law so be careful!
  • If you didn’t make it, it probably was made by someone else. Do a reverse image search and find out. Click on camera and upload image.
  • Using an image from Google and crediting Google Images is NOT OK. I saw churches and school newspapers with my image that had credited Google Images. What are we teaching our children?

So now you are asking me where can I get images to make my header, blog button or for a post?

Aside from my blog design, I buy most of my images through Vectorstock.com. Most images cost 1.00. I download these images and create banners and buttons using canva or picmonkey. Keep in mind these items are not exclusive, so you may see them on other blogs. Most allow you to modify them to give them your own personal twist.

You can hire someone. Cost depends on how customised it is and most designers can work within your budget. Ask around and be sure they are not using copyrighted items. Ask my friend Kristin @ Sweet Bird Design to make you a banner, button, logo. She is very talented, follows all copyright rules and is willing to work within your budget. She’ll give you lots of options.

Sites for Royal Free/Copyright Free Images:

*Some of these sites require you to credit owner for the photo. Be sure to comply. 

Free Vector Images: 

Cheap Sites to Buy Photos:

 

What About Fair Use?

A lot of images such as book covers, author image, gifs from favorite shows, meme images fall under fair use laws. Since the use of most of these images draws attention to the original site, movie, book etc. While I am not a lawyer I feel comfortable using gifts of my favorite character. Do not, however, take a famous actor and modify the image to have him holding your book..this will get you sued.

Links to Other Posts on Copyright

Things I learned and will do differently

My coffee and books image is not a part of my header. It floats to the side and is an image by itself. While I love the way it looks it does come with some issues. The image when copied comes with a transparent background making it very easy for folks to copy. When you share my post on social media, sites like Google+ look for the largest image to use. This is how it ended up on Google images.

Next time I redesign my blog I will

  • Make image part of header or more difficult to copy
  • add small signature or watermark
  • run a reverse image search at least once a month

 

I hope my story and these guidelines help you better understand searching for images for your blog/website.

If you see my image when you are out and about please contact me. I have not granted anyone permission to use my coffee and books.

Searching for Images for Your Blog/Website Don't Steal Them. Are you doing it wrong? Click To Tweet
Photo of kimbacaffeinate
About Kimberly
Kimberly is a coffee loving book addict who reads and listens to fictional stories in all genres. Whovian, Ravenclaw, Howler and proud Nonna. She owns and manages Caffeinated PR. The coffee is always on and she is ready to chat. Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

63 Responses to “Searching Images for Your Website? Don’t Steal Them”

  1. Melanie Simmons

    I’m so sorry that this happened to you. I do love your logo. I think it fits you and you design so well. I know that I’ve had this conversation with people in the past too. I can’t believe that so many people think that they can just take stuff. Steal images, music, books, etc. People worked hard for those things, they should be compensated for the work (which is exactly what you did and now people are trying to ride on your coattails).

  2. Julie

    I am so sorry it happened to you. People are not educated enough about copyrights. Frankly, I am so do not understand those law, that I still do not have my logo and a header on my site, just afraid that some one will “create” it for me from other sites. Your post is so great, thank you for all you tips and links!

  3. Wendy

    This is such a great post, and I will definitely read through the links you added. I often feel like my posts are boring because of the lack of images, but I’d rather have that than have stolen images. My father was a professional photographer who sold a lot of his work through stock agencies in the 1980s and 90s. He expected to continue to do so as his retirement fund, but with the explosion of the internet, people stopped buying images and started either ripping them off from the internet, or finding images from non-professionals who were just flattered to have their work used. And yes, this is melodramatic, but he basically died broke after fifty years of a successful career.

  4. Yasmine

    I’m so sorry to hear about your bad experience with this. That can be totally frustrating, I imagine. Thanks to your post I’ll be even more careful about copyright infringement because I’m never quite sure how that goes with images I look up for my blog.

  5. Jenna- JK I'm Exploring

    So many people I know are so clueless about copyright issues! It drives me insane, I think every school should teach it starting in like 5th grade. I didn’t learn about it until my sophomore year in college. I’m so sorry you had to go through all of this!

  6. Heather B

    I knew so little about all of this when I started blogging. But – I knew enough to know that I needed to know more. I just don’t even risk it anymore; I buy all my photos at either depositphotos.com or photobucket.com before I use them.

  7. Kim

    This is such a hot-button issue for me and I could go on and on and on forever about it, but I won’t. I’m an amateur photographer and a graphic designer so I’ve been on both sides of it. As a photographer, I had people steal my images from Flickr and post them as their own, use them on websites and even sell them as art. Yes, selling MY PHOTO on their Etsy or Redbubble site. My head almost exploded. For years, I chased down every instance of this one damn photo on the internet and issued DMCA notices. It was a huge headache. I had government agencies steal my photos from Flickr to use on their sites. On the other side of things, I’ve spent time trying to educate co-workers about copyright and image use when it comes to the internet. At one point, our communications department told one of my clients (who I was building a website for) that they could use any photo they wanted as long as they got it off Facebook. No. Just freaking no. As a result of that, my boss and I (with help from our property rights attorney) developed a training for staff so we could educate and share resources. I think it was effective. I hope it was. It just blows my mind how people think as long as it’s online, it’s free.

    I’m sorry for everything you’re having to go through with your adorable logo. People are jerks and, honestly, I wish I could say I was surprised but I’m not. The only thing I truly found surprising was the “if it doesn’t have a watermark it’s free” from a PHOTOGRAPHER. If anyone should know better, it’s that person. Ugh.

  8. Kristen

    THANK YOU FOR WRITING THIS. It honestly concerns me that copyright seems to have just gone out the window. I mean, THOSE RESPONSES. What????? I try to be understanding because I know there was a point in time when I also didn’t know about copyright (I didn’t realize the full extent until I took a mass comm law class), but this is something that *should* be taught in school because at this point it is a life skill. The internet, blogging, etc. is so prevalent that it’s important. They teach not to plagiarize papers, why not this?

    It gets even worse when you consider how people are also stealing things like fonts, photoshop brushes, etc. But all this stuff is copyrighted. When it comes to images, I just stick to only using completely free-to-use images and obviously book covers, Amazon products, etc. But I never even, for example, show a piece of artwork someone designed and then credit and link to it. It might fall under Fair Use, but I’d just rather not risk it.

    Anyway, I’m glad you wrote this post.

  9. Alise

    “Well next time put a copyright mark on it. The only reason I used it was because it didn’t have one.” I got this excuse just a few weeks ago, actually. It was even more amusing to me because they accused me of stealing my own image and then said that they would just “perpetuate their act of stealing.” ??? So I commented that we created that image and next time, use free photo image resources or create your own. She said that she was too lazy to create her own and that I should have had a watermark on the image, basically. I was more upset at her response than her act of stealing.

    I’m a Graphic Information Technology major and we have only recently gone over copyright laws and such and now I am so much more careful. I only use sites like the ones you have listed above or IF I do Google image search, I make sure to filter for for images that are public domain. However, gifs are sort of a gray area. I’ve watched large sites like Buzzfeed and Yahoo and CNN use gifs and just attribute them to the creator so I’m a little unsure as to what the correct protocol is. We still use gifs but try to link back to the original. It makes it even harder when there are so many sites like Giphy out there and I found Ashley’s post about gifs a little vague still.

    I actually got a takedown notice for a free font I used one time and FREAKED out because it said it was free for personal use and credited her as the rights stated. I emailed her back explaining and she apologized, saying she thought I was an author selling my books with that font. Needless to say, I got rid of that font anyway. Copyright can be scary!

  10. irena_bookdustmagic

    Thank you so much for posting this.
    I am originally from Croatia, that is a small country that’s in EU, and here are laws when it comes to using images really strickt.
    People get sued if they are not careful for big amounts of money, so it’s not a game.
    When I decided to create a blog I was very careful bc I didn’t want to get sued, but I also didn’t know where can I find free or cheap vectors that weren’t stolen before (you know what I mean, some free pics sites tend to have stolen images, not free ones).
    Finally, after someresearch I found one good freepik site, but I always think that if I wanted to have a new design I want to know more free but reliable sites.
    However, it seems to me that if I’ll go and change my blog design, I’d invest more in my blog this time.
    Now when I learned how to blog and saw it is something I’d like to do for a ling time in the future, I’m not sorry if it costs some money, but when I was first starting I didn’t know if I’ll find myself in blogging and if it’ll be something I’ll continue doing so I didn’t want to spend my money. You know what I mean?

  11. Melanie Simmons

    I’m so sorry this happened to you. I think you are right and most people are inherently good and are just naive to the actual rules. They don’t know the difference between the fair use images you mentioned and images like your logo. Or they think that you allow people to use your badges, so why not the logo, but the difference is in the link the badge. Great post. I hope the fact that you’re sharing your knowledge helps prevent someone else from having this issue.

  12. Steph

    This is all wonderful information. I am sorry that this had to happen to you.

  13. Lorna

    It isn’t fair that people are being so hateful that you have go the legal route. You shouldn’t have to go through this! I didn’t know any of the info you shared. If I had used something in error I would have been mortified and have taken it down immediately! Some people think rules don’t apply to them! Idiots!

  14. Vi

    I am so sorry that you had to go through all this. Why do people such stupid things at all? Guess I´ll have to set my sign onto my blog things – to feel at least a bit certain to prevent that from happening so easy, must have been a nightmare …

  15. Beckie

    I’ve had it happen to me too before. When you email the person who took your image they act like you shouldn’t make a big deal out of it, saying it’s only a pic. Duh, but it’s not yours to take. It’s a form of stealing. Sorry you’re having to deal with this, Kim. 🙁

  16. Jennifer Helen

    This was really useful to see image use from someone else’s perspective! I would hate it if someone else stole my image and imagine it must have been really difficult. Bookmarked to keep checking those sites you’ve mentioned! Thanks 🙂
    JH | hellojenniferhelen.com

  17. Karen Blue

    I am so sorry to hear that people have been stealing your logo. I think it really terrible (and a bit of flattery that so many want it, but in a really wrong way). I hope you get things settled soon. Thanks for this post, yours is a cautionary tale unfortunately.

  18. Katherine

    I’m so sorry you’re having to deal with that! And how awful that you’re having issues with people actually fixing what they shouldn’t have been doing in the first place! Back when I first started reading blogs there was a post by a blogger I followed who used an image off of Google images and ended up getting sued. After reading that I’ve been so paranoid about using any images because I didn’t want to get in trouble but I didn’t even think about the mental distress that the image owner would have dealing with all. Now I’ll be even more careful!

  19. Silvia

    Well, I don’t even know where to start . . . As a graphic designer, I’m shocked to hear other designers don’t know about image copyrights, and appalled that they steal other works and sell them as theirs. And a student lawyer? I think she missed a few lessons -_- . . . Indeed, this whole thing makes you sick and I’m truly sorry you had to deal with it, Kimberly. NO ONE should have to, this is just plain wrong. For crying out loud, copyright can be hard to get right away, yes, and confusing at times, but there are no excuses for such behaviour.
    Your post is great, though, hopefully this is going to open some eyes, it’s surely helpful.

  20. Got My Book

    Great article. Thank you for the list. I too have used (and credited) Pixbay and Freepik but I want to start including more images and don’t want to run into trouble.

  21. Melliane

    what a difficult thing there but I totally understand why you’re angry…. I confess that the pictures I have are from a French artist I know buys all her pictures and I aksed her if I could take some of her work and add the name of the blog and all and she is lovely enough to agree each time, like that I’m sure I do the right thing.

  22. Kathryn

    Firstly an amazing post, so full of good tips. Yes can’t understand people taking your image, where were they in their “ignorance’!

  23. Angela Adams

    I’m sorry that you went through all of this stress, but thank you so much for sharing and educating your readers.

  24. Dani Chapman

    I am so sorry that you are having to deal with this! The replies are unbelievable. I am shocked at how rude they are!
    I hope you get this fixed quickly!

  25. Lark

    I’m sorry you’ve had such trouble with this, Kimba. Thank you for the list of sites with images that are OK to use. I use Pixabay a lot, and personalize images with PicMonkey or Canva, but I will check out some of the other sites too. And I will be searching for my bookwyrm to make sure no one is misusing him!

  26. Kristin

    Best Post EVER!!! Can I steal it??? Copy/paste???!!! o.O

    pssst…. thank you 🙂 love you tons!

  27. Sophia Rose

    I still get confused on some especially when I was finding out that ‘free’ image sites weren’t necessarily legal free images, but I’ve learned to err on the side of caution. Appreciate the lists of where you find your images. I use a few of those, but didn’t know about all of them.
    Just seeing your angst and pain over this is hard.

  28. Jessica

    That’s just terrible and a great big headache! I hope you’re doing all right! That has to be one of the most stressful things ever. Copyright laws along with the internet is definitely a messy subject. I feel more educated now that you’ve told me things. The images I’ve used have been things related back to Disney or other movies, Hope the mess gets cleared up soon for you!

  29. ShootingStarsMag

    I’ve done a lot of research and presentations on copyright, and even I can get confused by all the rules and what’s okay or not. That’s one main reason I’m TRYING to create my own images more, even if they aren’t all that great. haha

    I’m sorry you’ve had so much trouble with this though! That’s awful that some people didn’t seem to care all that much…if it was me, I’d feel really bad, even if I knew it wasn’t done on purpose. It’s true that people don’t understand copyright especially with the internet. They can’t get mad if someone tells them to stop using an image though.

    -Lauren

  30. Melissa (Books and Things)

    Yes, the opposite is true as well. I guess there was someone who was contacting people about the Gil Elvgren images claiming to have copyright. A lot of his images are under fair use law and it was something to do with his signature which was suspect.

    I’m so sorry that your image has been used and sold! I will keep my eyes open for that image. I am planning on changing my blog as well hopefully soon (if things start settling down!) so it reflects me better. I hope this doesn’t happen to me. 🙁

  31. Yinan Chen

    Hi, very informative article.
    Please also check out https://www.goodfreephotos.com for thousands of unique public domain photos, all high-resolution and free to use for any purpose. We update with 20+ photos each week. Appreciate it if you could add us to your list of sites.

  32. Michelle (

    Great post kimba! I still remember when I found your image on a random blog. I was so mad! haha People just don’t think (or don’t care.) But yes, copyright and trademark law is very complicated and there is so much wrong information out there on google. Just because you google something, and find an answer, doesn’t mean it is the correct or legal answer.

  33. Pat

    It’s terrible this has happened and you are having a difficult time. Thanks for sharing all of this valuable information.

  34. Lola

    I am so sorry this happened to you. It definitely is a good idea to make people aware of this. So many people simply don’t know what is and isn’t allowed.

    And those comments you got back can be quite nasty, sounds like sending take down notices would work better so you doesn’t have to hear their excuses. I hope you got most of the images taken down now, but I can imagine it leaves a bad taste in your mouth and made you feel sad to see others using your image.

    I know sometimes legal rules can be confusing, but that’s still no excuse. And it’s good to know how many places and sites there are to get images legally. Thanks for listing those all!

    I’ll check some of those posts about copyright and image theft you linked to and check them out as it’s always good to know more.

  35. Emma

    Sounds like a nightmare! Hope you get it sorted. I use freepik.com which has options to use for free with credit or buy and use credit free.

  36. Bee

    I’m so sorry this happened to you Kim! 🙁 I didn’t even know people did things like this. 🙁

  37. Lillian

    When I first started blogging, I didn’t know ANY of this stuff. It’s good to have a resource like this. I learned fairly quickly (and thankfully not through something like this) to search for non copyrighted images, but even still I’m careful what I use. Love Pixabay for photos 😀
    Sorry this happened to you!!! Just last week someone started using my images from my blog on theirs. At first I was sympathetic thinking it was a new blogger as it was found through the Sunday Post and it was her first time. But the blogger’s been at it since 2013 (longer than me!) and should know better. It’s frustrating and I’m having a hard time getting this person to take down the images. Going to do what you suggested by going straight to the host.
    Hope everything resolves quickly for you!

  38. Stormi

    I know when I first started out that I didn’t know anything about any of this kind of stuff and had to learn along the way. I was like a lot who thought it the pic is on google it’s safe to use, I am glad I didn’t have to learn the hard way like that one blogger, but it’s good to have this info out there for those starting out.

  39. Bookworm Brandee

    It stinks that you’re having to deal with this, Kim, but I appreciate you sharing your experience and knowledge with us. I will certainly keep an eye out for your image. What makes this worse is that people didn’t take responsibility for something they’d done wrong. Gah! I’m sure you’re more than frustrated. I don’t know much about image use to be honest so I try not to use any. lol I hope you’re able to get everything taken care of quickly. 🙂

  40. N. N. Light

    Egads! I’m so sorry you’ve been dealing with this! This is a great post full of valuable information. I’ve been creating a lot of my own graphics and I get my images from Pexels. They’re a great site and each photo has a clear and distinct description of how you can use it. Every single image I’ve used say very clearly, “CC0 License

    ✓ Free for personal and commercial use

    ✓ No attribution required”

    Copyright is a very serious issue and I’m glad you’ve brought this up, Kim. Over the past few months I’ve seen authors creating graphics using celebrity photos as their “characters”. They have no idea how dangerous it is to use a celebrity photo without permission. They could very well get sued and I’m talking about millions of dollars here. Just don’t do it!

    Sending calming waves and a cup of strong brew your way, Kim! 🙂

  41. Debbie Haupt

    Thanks Kim for your thorough post, I agree that most of us are basically good and just are too lazy or uniformed to do it right the first time. When I was first starting out I have to admit its very confusing and if it weren’t for blogger friends like you it would have been a very different experience. Thanks again!

  42. AngelErin

    So sorry this happened to you! I will admit some of these things I didn’t know. Recently I began not using any images or GiFs at all. Unless it’s the few I MADE myself. Which they aren’t the greatest, but at least I won’t get sued. Great post Kim & thanks for posting about this so we can all learn. Obviously so many of us were not aware. I for one used to think it was fine unless the image was watermarked. 😡 Oops! Again I am so sorry this happened to you, Good luck moving forward and thanks for taking the time to help us all learn more about this.

  43. Tonyalee

    I do think of a lot of this is lack of education and posts like these help! I didn’t know when I started blogging, but research and other bloggers helped out with it. Sorry this happened to you!!!

  44. Tyler H. Jolley

    What a great and powerful post. I’m sorry you had to deal with this, but kudos to you for making it a learning tool for others. I hope everything is resolved soon.

  45. Jenny

    It’s been a while since I’ve checked to see if my graphics have been used elsewhere without permission, I should probably look into that Kim! And the excuses appall me – if it doesn’t have a watermark it’s free? When I did weddings I paid a lot more attention to my designs as brides used to try and photoshop out my watermark all the time and try to have my designs printed at Kinkos or the like. I finally got Adobe Acrobat Pro that allows you to lock PDFs so they can’t be saved, printed, or opened in any other program. That wouldn’t negate online use though as they could still take a screen capture of it and use it, but since invitations were predominantly used for print, it cut down on the copyright infringement issue dramatically. Though I still did have one client who emailed me saying she tried to open my file in Photoshop and it wouldn’t let her, so could I send her a new file? Um. No.

    So sorry this has happened to you Kim, and as someone who has had their work stolen repeatedly, I appreciate this post!

  46. kindlemom1

    I’m so sorry this happened Kim, it really is sad to see. Thanks for all the great tips on where ti find images we can use!

  47. Anna Thornton

    Thank you so much for your well delivered, thoroughly researched and informational post! As a new blogger, I am very concerned about giving credit where credit is due. While I did purchase and customize my header, I have been guilty of using stock photos to highlight my posts (a bird, a plant, but no humans.) I will be the first to admit it-and apologize. As I have perused blogs in hopes of building my own site, I notice many, many photos that are obviously not the work of the blogger and it disturbs me. Pictures speak a thousand words indeed, but those thousand words could be the wrong message and that can be a very bad thing. Thank you so very much!

  48. The Genre Minx Book Reviews

    This was a detailed and informative post. Thank you for all the information. My rule of thumb for myself is if I did not take the picture myself I do not use it, with the exception of the book cover art that I use for my reviews. I did once use 3 images from pinterest on one post and did seek out the original source, which was credited but I guess that was not enough. 🙂

  49. Carrie

    OMGosh!! That would be frustrating! This design is so recognizable to me now that I instantly know it’s you. You’re right. A lot of people are so unaware of the rules.

  50. Celine (

    Whoa, Kim. So sorry you had to go through all that trouble to get the images removed. Truly, your stack of books and cup logo is fantastic. It’s sad people don’t realize using it isn’t okay

  51. Mary Kirkland

    There are so many people out there that have no clue, don’t care or think they won’t get caught. Back when I was writing articles for Yahoo Contributor Network, I had one of my articles stolen and put on a Pest control website. What dumbfounded me was the fact that the article they decided to use on their website was, How To Care For Wild Mice.

  52. Sharon

    I’m sorry this happened to you and what a lot of trouble getting it cleaned up. It leaves you with a lot to think about when redesigning your blog.

  53. Lexxie

    I’m so sorry you had to deal with this, Kim! I was a bit clueless as to how images worked when I first started blogging, but it’s not really that hard. Even a quick google search on ‘copyright on images’ explains things quite well, so there really is no excuse.
    I hope it will all be resolved for you quickly, and that nobody else will keep snagging your images.

  54. Jennifer (Bad Bird Reads)

    I’m so sorry you have to go through this. It’s so unfair. I do get that people are ignorant about this stuff until they read something like this though. Thank for the links. I love finding out about new free photo sites. I use photopin.

  55. Briana

    Wow. I am really sorry this happened to you. I wrote about image copyright recently but don’t have any personal experiences with stolen images (that I know about anyway). I think the worst must be people trying to deny they did something wrong instead of just taking down the image. 🙁

  56. Priscilla

    I work as a writer and regularly use pictures from other websites. I’d thought adding a link/acknowledgement would be enough. It wasn’t, so that was a lesson learned. Now I only use pictures from sites like Unsplash and Visual Hunt. What you went through was awful. And the replies you received goes to show how clueless some people are (including me) when it comes to copyright issues. I’ll keep an eye out. Hope you’re feeling better, Kim!

  57. blodeuedd

    I have a free one that I have seen around a lot 🙂 I used to have another image that I loved but it was too hard to track down the source! It drove me insane. See, I had first seen it on the cover of a book, and I emailed the artist who said go for it….just, it turned out it was not his image. He had no idea why he was credited in the book. He said I could use another one of his real images but, sigh, I wanted that one

  58. Leona

    Oh wow! So sorry this happened to you babe. I’m hoping everything works out for you! 🙁