Photo Extremist on Flicker
I don’t know why, but I’m constantly amazed by the writing community. I’ve never seen so many people belonging to a certain way of life being so supportive of one another, and it does a lot to for that whole ‘faith in humanity’ thing, doesn’t it?
When one writer falls, no less than four will be there to help them up, no questions ask. And that alone makes me so very proud to call myself a writer. Every now and then I tweet that writers are the best people I know, and I’m reminded of it every single day.
By now you’ve all read Roni Loren’s story about being sued for using a certain photo in one or her posts, and the consequences. I’m not here to remind you guys what that’s about, you all know by now that it’s a no-no. We cannot claim ignorance anymore. It has happened before, the news just wasn’t that prominent.
A lot of people in the writing community have been deleting all the images from their blog posts and replacing them it others. Which brings me to the reason for this post and the awesomeness that is our writing community.
As soon as the news hit the airwaves/Twitter feeds/readers etc, the ever awesome Leigh Ann Kopans created a Pinterest board with photos she’s personally taken and made them available for anybody to use for blog posts etc. For free. Then another friend of mine, Jenny Kaczorowski, made some of her photography available for use as well. And then I heard of somebody else offering images to bloggers. Somebody else tweeted a link to free images, others blogged about advice and more links. And so it went. Everybody stepped forward to contribute whatever they could and it will continue.
Isn’t that the most wonderful thing ever!?!
The interne
t is such a dangerous place when it comes to copyrighted material, and it’s sometimes hard to find and use the right image, the one that represents your thoughts the best, without getting into potential trouble. With the sites that do offer cc images, I’ve found that I have to sign up to get access to some of them, and I’m somewhat annoyed by this sometimes because I don’t want more things filling up my inbox. So having easy access to boards like Leigh Ann and Jenny’s is super useful. Earlier this week I tweet a link to a post written by Leigh Ann and somebody I don’t follow and who doesn’t follow me, saw the RT somehow and replied with a link to more free images.
Photo by Jenny Kaczorowski
Most of you probably already have your go-to sites for free images, but I thought I’d share the ones I’ve found lately and give you a wider variety. If you have any you want to share with the rest of us, please leave a link in the comment section, we’ll all appreciate it.
CC Images via Leigh Ann Kopans
CC Images from Jenny Kaczorowski
Creative Commons Images for Open Blog Use
Anything you want to share?
Courtney Koschel has been writing since she could hold a crayon. She has worked as a journalist, editor, technical writer, and technical editor. Young adult fiction is near and dear to her heart, which is why she writes YA and all of its glorious sub-genres.
Tonia Marie Houston is a mother, writer, poet, bookworm, and blogger. When sheís not chasing her three spider monkeys, she spends her time revising a young adult novel about life after death and second chances. Though she began to pursue her career later in life, she hopes to inspire and motivate other writers to put their best book forward.
This native Texan now lives with her Scottish hubby in North Ayrshire, Scotland, where she wanders the moors in search of William Wallace. She has been a guest blogger on Writer Unboxed and is currently working on the sequel to her YA supernatural novel, Touched by Darkness.
Jamie Raintree writes what she likes to call everyday fairytale love stories, featuring the little moments in life that are truly magical. She lives in Arizona with her husband and daughter and is currently editing her second novel.
Jani Grey is a South African ambivert, writer, reader, optimist, and bacon enthusiast. When her boss isnít looking she writes, revises, or edits YA Urban Fantasies in between work. Sheís sneaky like that. Sheís a NaNoWriMo addict and is currently working on two NaNo novels.
Rebecca Fields is a modern gypsy, roaming from place to place in search of ñ well, sheíll let you know when she finds it. Writing has become a way for her to share her adventures, both real and imagined. Along with her on her journey are her son and an assortment of rescued animals.
vaughnroycroft
July 25, 2012 at 11:48 am
Bookmarked! Thanks, Jani, I needed these links. And so agree about the writing community–it is amazing how supportive writers are. I feel blessed!
Jani
July 29, 2012 at 9:14 am
We’re definitely blessed. I’m glad I posted these at the right time
Tonia Marie Houston
July 25, 2012 at 12:38 pm
I bookmarked as well. This is so helpful, Jani. We’re lucky, aren’t we? I know I am, to have friends and literary co-conspirators like you.
Sharing the sharing, lol.
Jani
July 29, 2012 at 9:29 am
Oooh, I like the thought of literary co-conspirators. Very much
bwtaylor75
July 25, 2012 at 3:00 pm
I pretty much search for royalty free images when I’m on the hunt for a picture. However, I did have a few images I took down just to be sure. I can’t imagine someone suing a blogger who already removed the image. How long was it up for? Couldn’t have been that long. A lawsuit seems a bit extreme, but you never know how another person is going to react.
Great info and even better links. Thanks Jani.
Jani
July 29, 2012 at 9:42 am
I’m not sure how long it was up for but I think I remember that it might have been an old post. Personally I think suing went a bit far, but some people are more difficult about it than others. That was how the photographer wanted to deal with the situation. We’ve all learned a valuable lesson out of what happened.
Jamie Raintree
July 25, 2012 at 4:16 pm
I am so happy that Roni Loren was kind enough to share this experience. I know there are some people out there who are still unaware of the laws or those who are afraid to use images at all. It doesn’t have to be scary if we stay educated and take a little extra time to make sure we’re following the rules. After all, we, as artists, wouldn’t want our copyrights infringed upon.
Thank you for sharing these links! Another one to add is flickr.com/creativecommons, remembering to credit the source. On the right side of the image page, any special requests from the artist are listed.
Courtney Koschel
July 25, 2012 at 5:22 pm
This is such an awesome and timely post. Thank you so much for sharing this information–it can’t be shared enough. The internet is such an awesome, albeit, scary place sometimes. Copyright is something that we all have to be mindful of, but it’s also something that we don’t give enough attention too sometimes.
You’re awesome, Jani. I love your posts
Carr Party of Five
July 26, 2012 at 7:46 am
Thank you!! I am mentioning you in my blog!!!
Wonderful links!!!
Lisa
The Depressed Moose
July 26, 2012 at 2:40 pm
Thank you so much for this! as a new blogger i am still so very ignorant towards this side of things.