The Winner of My Random Pic Contest, and a bit about copyright...

in #contest • 7 years ago

So it's time for me to give out more money for the fun of it.

Except for this time, something rained on my parade a bit.

I really enjoyed some of the entries, but there were quite a few that didn't follow the rules or were just plain copyright violations. Too many people can't follow directions, and too many don't seem to know what copyright is.

So, before I give out the prize for my competition, I have to write a post about copyright. Because of that, the prize announcement is delayed, because I have to do a bunch of research to find a bunch of posts to reference, so it's not just in my own words.

You can click here to see the original post about the contest.

Before I start, you could read @rubencress' awesome post about copyright. It covers some things a lot of others don't, including why you shouldn't use images with people in them, even if they're free to use.

Read before you post anything new on Steemit: The Basics of Copyright.

Just because it's on the internet doesn't mean it's free to use!

Copyright is the right to copy. Basically, you need permission. If you don't have the copyright, you don't have the right to copy. Those random images on the web? Yeah, you don't have a right to copy those without permission. Using them for profit is likely an especially bad idea.

It's like if you went to an art gallery, and took a picture of a painting, then tried to sell the pictures. It's just not right. The painter might just have a problem with it.

What you want is to find CC0 or Public Domain or similarly licensed images, and then you want to link to the page where you found them, so people can check if you're allowed to use them. You can also license images from various places, then just put up the copyright notice.

Where do you find images to use?

There is a greatwelcome page that covers a bunch of the different ways to find legal images to use. post by @mindover that's linked on the

Don't Plagiarize Images! Here are 13 free (and Legal) ways to find high quality photos you can use on Steemit.

Many people use Pixabay, which is number 3, but I personally prefer the google method, which is number 2.

2 ) Google Image Search Filtered by Usage Rights:
You can't just grab any photo you like off Google Images, but after you search, if you click the button that says "Search Tools" then "Usage Rights" then "Labeled for Reuse" (or "Labeled for Reuse with Modification" depending on your needs) all of the search results are fair game. Just make sure to the attribution requirements. Always give credit when required.

There's also another great article by @mobbs that @suesa pointed out to me.

How to stop stealing content for your Steemit posts - without compromise

It focuses on finding images via Google and has a very fun style of writing.

@mobbs also made another cool article that talks about how you should contact the owners of images, to get permission.

The benefits of getting permission for images on Steemit

This was again pointed out to me by @suesa.

Perhaps it's a bit daunting to contact someone for permission to use an image, but it does have benefits. Perhaps you might find a new friend to bring to Steemit. :)

You also need to source your images!

I must admit, I don't always do perfect sourcing of my images. Hopefully, it never bites me in the ass because I sourced a site and had trouble finding who I actually needed to source as the copyright owner, despite mostly using sites like Pixabay.

@dmcamera wrote a wonderful blog post that covers how to properly source an image.

How To Avoid Copyright Violation And Image Plagiarism - How To Effectively Use Google Images

You can also do the lazy image sourcing like @arrjey did. This is alright for a CC0 Public domain image like he used. Technically you don't even have to source this one, but it makes it easier for people checking if you have rights to the image. It was also in the rules of the contest.


Image Credit

Sorry @arrjey, you didn't win. But you did do a perfect example of one way to show the source of your image if it's public domain.

One thing you most certainly can't do is just put "Google" as your source. Likewise, you can't use "Facebook" or "Twitter" as your source. You also can't say it's from your friend social media or whatever. This just shows you have absolutely no idea what copyright is, and is kind of asking for a flag.

Memes are kind of a grey area.

Memes are often a form of parody and a type of derivative work that are completely different than the original. For that reason, it is likely legally defensible if you get sued for making or using a meme. That doesn't mean that there's no possibility of being sued though. Technically you might be committing a copyright violation, and you could get sued. What's more, you might be using someone's likeness without their permission.

I did say in the rules of my contest that you had to have the rights to use the image, so I'm not even considering any memes for a winner. The only ones I would consider is ones made using public domain images, or your own images.

The Winner Of My Random Image Contest

Me! Because I got to see a bunch of cool random images. But the money is going to someone else.

I would like to say that there were some really cool images given by various members of them and their friends or family. I wish I could have given quite a few of you at least 1 steem each.

Congratulations to @unicron

You won!

Your image is just plain fucking awesome!


source)image copyright @unicron (

I'll be sending out the Steem after I post this, and then promptly passing the fuck out, because it took me fucking hours to write this while doing other shit throughout the day.


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#copyright #images #steemit #steemitbloggers
7 years ago in #contest by
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