Posted by Jon on December 06, 2006 at 15:32:39 from 199.159.117.62 user Jon.
In Reply to: Re: Posting photographs Technique and Copyright posted by Mike Field on November 30, 2006 at 20:43:19:
If the image is on the original owner's website it's in the public domain. Linking to it is no more infringing copyright than is telling someone about a book its author gave you.If you believe, and act on, that, you're in for repeated visits to your lawyer. "Public domain" is at quite the opposite end of the spectrum from copyright. Materials in most countries subscribing to the Berne conventions on copyright are automatically copyrighted upon creation. Publishing (web-based or otherwise) does not involve an automatic sacrifice of this ownership. I can relinquish copyright and place something in the public domain, where anyone may freely copy, reproduce and alter it; I may grant a limited license (for instance, Open Source software or Gnu Public License) with restrictions; or I may reserve all rights (which his the de facto state of copyright). When (if ever, given legislative trends extending copyright interminably) the term of copyright expires, the creation will also enter the public domain. Assessed damages may be minor for violation if a creation hasn't been physically registered with the copyright office, but if it has been so registered, you may be liable for punitive damages and costs as well.