File this under Public Service Announcement.
Since nearly every cell phone has a camera, and since advanced editing tools are available for free, it makes no sense to steal a picture from the internet.
I know it’s easy to do. Just do a Google image search and you’ll find exactly what you need, right?
Once you find the image you can just insert the image via the URL that way you don’t have to worry about uploading it to a server.
That is unless the image was originally put up by someone who had a Google alert for anything linking back to their site. That would be a bad thing.
Why you ask?
We’ll let’s just say you have a sweet little blog called Faye’s Blog.
You did just that and found the perfect picture and stuck it in your post like this:
It looks nice. Good job!
There's one problem though.
The owner of the image (the same one who carefully hand crafted the image Credit Crunch) happens to have a Google Alert set to look for anything that links back to his site.
Within minutes of your post, Google sent that same owner an alert pointing him to your post.
The owner could then substitute yet another image into his server files replacing the original image with something less appealing than what you might have first found.
You can guess this might not be such a good thing. You see by the owner replacing that image with anything he wants, the new image now instantly shows up in your post!
Oh - Oh! This isn’t going to look good to Faye’s readers…
Faye’s Bio says…
I’m currently at the University of Aberden doing an MLitt in English Literary Studies.
Good for you Faye.
Next post I'll show you how to find and properly use pictures you find on the internet.
Are you following me on Twitter?
This post brought to you courtesy of Mike Mueller.
Feel free to ReBlog or ReTweet as you like as long as you credit the source (him).
Did you know? He's for hire! He builds Blogs, Graphic Images and Widgets and Facebook Pages and besides… He knows lots of really cool stuff.
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Mmmmm. I just deposited a $4,000 check from a gentleman who "found" one of my maps on the Internet, perhaps Google Images, and that same map found it's way to his web site. In fact a few of them did.
It's a real thing and thats one of the biggest ways people find their photos being stolen. My boyfriend owns an ad agency and that's one of the ways they do it.
Oh my, thanks for the tip. I may have used those images, now I have to go back and see if the pics are replaced with that frightful message!
Mike thanks for the post and the information. Reminds us that everything is traceable. Best wishes.
thanks for the tip. Love the picture for the credit runch
Thanks Mike I am guilty of this. I will have to come up with some alternatives now.
Wonder if she will ever check that post and see if she has been caught. Very funny.
SWEET... I couldn't help myself, that word truly came to mind. Good for you Mike. I love it!
Now THAT is funny....I don't care who you are. KM
Mike! This is hillarious. A great and instructive way to make a point.
that is hilarious...love the pig tails.
Mike, I just paid for a subscription to Iclipart to avoid that. Is there anything else I should be worrying about?
Mike, I think Faye may be very surprised next time she checks in on her blog. Very funny post and excellent solution for image thieves.
OK, I laughed pretty hard.
And then went to work to learn how to set an Alert.
I have to say I was guilty of this years ago -- UNTIL someone stole my images that I spent an entire weekend working on. I didn't know about the Google alert, so that is hilarious.
This is so necessary and thanks ... I just wish I had been prepared for the other photo - when I scrolled down I almost fell off my chair... LOL
Mike - how do you set up the google alert to look for anything that links back to your site? I have some set up for keywords, but hadn't thought of that. ~Rita
I have gotten to the point I only use my own images... And I need to get more of them scanned.
I have been known to put less than family friendly pictures up for a stolen image...
;^ )
that is a great post Mike, in fact the guy in the pic looks like he ate too many crunches.
LOL
I look forward to your follow up post on how to do it right.
chris the implemetner
That is hilarious. Honestly, I didn't think people would mind that much unless it was an obvious slogan or something, only because they sort of get a link back to their site. But it does steal bandwidth.
I'll look forward to your next post.
OMG that is fantastic. I use google alerts but not like that. Perfect!!!! Gotta love justice.
Mike.. that would not be a good thing... It could turn up a photo that could be more embarrassing too.
Mike, You certainly know how to make a point! Congratulations on a well deserved and informative featured post.
Excellent blog. Eye opening. Thank you for posting.
I am glad it is traceable. As a graphics designer I am not working to give it away. It is really easy to steal and there are several locations to get free photos. There are ways to steal in any industry. We don't want our content stolen by others, the movie and music industry don't want illegal copies made, REALTORS don't want their clients talking with other REALTORS. If we want integrity in our industry we must have integrity.
Mike, not to mention that the owner of credit crunch could in fact have Faye pay $ for this blunder.
Mike, Ooh, that second picture is ugly. Woo. That was hard to look at, good way to get your point across.
Thanks for the information. I knew there was a way to track pictures but had no idea that Google was one of the ways.
Ah, giving away my trade secrets, eh?
I've done that little trick on MANY occasions - it usually gets things taken down pretty quickly.
I had someone steal my ENTIRE website - literally - the entire site, graphics, text - everything. Verbatim.
I threatened to sue them, so they [reluctantly] took it down. They claimed that even though we were in the same business, we were in different locations, so "it didn't matter".
They changed most of it, but left one little thing that actually links right to my server.
Check out http://silverhousehd.com/pricing/index.html
Click on the third option down "example".
This has been this way for probably a year...!
Total scumbags. They deserve whatever they receive!
Isn't it better when you steal a photo to copy and paste on a word document, then put it into the picture editor, rename it and the upload into your blog.
I want to be doing this stuff correctly,
Richard
Lenn - You are a master at protecting your property, an Absolute Master!
Egads! I'll never be able to catch up on all the comments. Poor Faye is probably wondering why she has all this increased traffic.
In truth, I think everyone has borrowed a picture off the internet. I certainly have. Instead of using the image location, she could have downloaded the image, renamed it and put it up as her own. I see that all the time.
Next I want to show a great way to steal pictures legally and easily (with permission from the owner)
Fred - There's a Mortgage Guy here in the RAIN who stole my profile. I even made it into a post! He still hasn't changed it. Hauntingly familiar to this same story.
Richard - LOL I can show you some behind the scenes stuff on images nobody ever thinks about. Remember back when they found out terrorists were communicating with hidden messages inside images - yeah, that stuff!
Okay that picture made me laugh so hard! Thanks for the laugh
LOL GREAT post Mike, thanks very much. While I laughed, I do realize the consequences could be dire for sites who don't follow normal copyright/courtesy rules. Its not hard to send an email.
We must all heed your warning on this before we end up paying some massive dollars...
There's a second issue at play here. What would Nestle's attorneys say about the use of their product's branding in this financial context?
Mike,
You make a good point with a very humorous example.
It is good that people have a way to protect their work...but if something is on a free site and we use it, we are safe right?
I carry a camera in my car and one in my brief case. I just do not want to take the chance.
I once saw something like that happen to an Ebay seller who stole a photo of another seller's Rolex watch. Very funny.
Too funny and point well taken, we can certainly get our own pictures of most anything given a little time and ingenuity.
Mike - I'm back... Just wanted to see if Faye had caught onto the "joke"... You have to share with us if she contacts you. Your fans really want to know.
Gorgeous day out today in Chicago... Just a reminder to me to go click away!
makes sense but I do like the availability of replacing a picture that someone steals with something less appealing! As a matter of fact that could be very funny!
Thanks Mike ... you got the point across! pippa
Mike: That dudette you replaced on that candy bar label is very frightening. LOL
All kidding aside, this IS a very good lesson. Thanks.
Faye got lucky.... I have seen worse image swaps. ;-)
I have a lot of photos uploaded to photobucket. I have to go see what their/my copyright choices are there. ~Rita
I would spend more time on a response, but you'll have to excuse me...I think I may have peed my pants laughing so hard!
Mike... that is absolutely hilarious. Good for you!
OMG...that was hysterical! Thank goodness I've never done that...would hate for that to happen!
You're absolutely right of course ... it's easy to take photos these days, except you always need one you haven't yet taken. :)
It's way too easy to look for images on Google. We are all guilty of that. We learn every day. Thanks for the reminder.
I thought the second picture was better. :) Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Thanks for the laugh and info. Mother Lode Master
Great post Mike... Its a good reminder to us alll that somebody is always watching us...
Good blog. I find it interesting. It can be quite a job finding photos that make a point. As an inspector I use my own photos mainly.
Hi Mike, Excellent post and graphics ! I'm always worried that I will run afoul of the rules on images. Always read the posts concerning this issue.
For those looking to use legal pictures, refer back to our top 100 photo sites list.
Great list and agreed. don't use google, flickr, etc.
I almost barfed when I saw the lower photo...thanks for making me ill!
Aloha Mike,
Considering the evangelical leanings of Fay, the irony is even more poignant.
Peace,
Thanks Mike,
It makes us all conscious of what we do.
Lenn,
Please post a blog about your maps and the man. It would make interesting reading.
You know, most people don't know that using photos they find on the internet, is a copyright violation. I've posted videos about it on You Tube, since I didn't know about it when I first started blogging. To this day, my subscribers will still argue with me.
Hi Mike,
Thank you for the "Heads Up", on this topic. We can never be too careful. You never know when someone will suddenly decide one time to use their photo or whatever is one time too often.
Not good but it's funny.
LOL - coffee spit on screen - that's not very christian of you, Faye! So funny that the image is still there. Faye needs google analytics.
Great info we often do not think of copyrights on photos.
What a picture, lol. I think that taught her a lesson.
Faye is lucky you used that pic and not something pornographic. You were more than kind to her.
I find that making my own images is half of the fun of blogging and there is plenty of free vectors and dingbat fonts one can use as a starting point.
And if you are truly untalented, there are image generator sites you can use.
There is no excuse for stuff like that...and even less for hotlinking & stealing the bandwidth, too.
Uh o. I'm so guilty but I do add a credit next to the picture :] I'll be looking forward to your next post...
That's great info. I knew that these things can be traced but I was not sure how. I usually try to use my own pictues but I have been guilty of taking them off the internet from various places. Thanks for the info, Mary
i always redirect any unwanted views of my webpages/images/etc at far less tasteful content, it is always worth a laugh.
Wow, so I guess not only Big Brother is wathing, but also Faye as well!
Mike - this is an excellent post, and thanks for the info. I appreciate it.