Don’t steal pictures (especially not from Mike Mueller)

October 15, 2008
By: David Gibbons
Author's Website: http://www.zillow.com

Here’s a humorous look at blogging and copyright. Swallow your coffee first and then click through to this blog post by Faye Hendry. Faye’s blog tells you repeatedly that she’s a christian but that fact only adds to the irony of the image Mike Mueller uploaded in the place of the one she stole from his blog. Mike’s revenge is also posted here in case Faye gets copyright religion. Mike recounted the story on his blog and followed up with some wise advice for professionals in a tongue-in-cheek-titled post about creative commons licensing called “How to Steal Images.”

This is web 2.0 justice at its best. Although I suspect poor Faye of ignorance over immorality, it’s a good reminder that the power to publish comes with legal responsibility. Libel and Copyright violations are the most common mistakes that bloggers seem to make. Back in the early days of RE blogging, Zillow’s General Counsel, Liam Lavery, posted tips for bloggers looking to avoid both of these common legal pitfalls. In that post, Liam distinguishes between plagiarism and fair use:

Frequently, bloggers declare that the First Amendment permits them to use freely any content available for their Web sites. In fact, U.S. copyright law does provide some relief via the fair use doctrine. However, the fair use doctrine is subtle and easily misapplied. Section 107 of the Copyright Act lists four factors to be considered in determining whether a use made of a work in a particular case is fair:

The purpose and character of the use, including whether such use is of a commercial nature or is for nonprofit educational purposes.

The nature of the copyrighted work.

The amount and substantiality of the portion used in relation to the copyrighted work as a whole.

The effect of the use upon the potential market for or value of the copyrighted work.

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Categories: Photography

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Steve Krzysiak on October 15, 2008 12:30 pm

Thanks, I needed the laugh!

I wonder how long it will take her to get it updated….
Abby Bob on October 15, 2008 9:03 pm

Thanks for making story even more laughable

David, we can “steal” images here legeally — acobox.com welcomes hotlinking to images it hosts, and it’s free…
Cedar Rapids Real Estate on October 16, 2008 7:31 pm

I would think there is enough free content out there that you wouldn’t have to think about “borrowing” content from another site. Also, I know that copyright violations number in the gazillions as people don’t really think it’s “stealing” if it’s out there for them to find!
Austin Real Estate Guy on October 17, 2008 10:24 am

People rip stuff off all the time, but that doesn’t make it right. It frustrates me to see entire newspaper articles copied and pasted into blog posts without permission and yet rarely does anyone get busted.
Todd Waller | Ann Arbor Real Estate on October 22, 2008 11:29 am

David,

Sorry to hear image theft hit you, but your handling of it was priceless! I note that there is no longer a photo on Faye’s post. Do you think the replacement photo you uploaded just kill the img tag on her post?
Bowtrol Reviews on November 5, 2008 1:58 am

Thanks for funny story, I haven’t think about it before, but it is really very funny.