Finally a discussion in blog world about giving credit!
Yesterday I found this wonderful poster on
Pia Jane Bijkerk's blog, created by her and
Erin Loechner from design for mankind, with
Yvette van Boven's handmade fonts. This discussion made me really happy because often I've been a bit puzzled about the different methods of bloggers when citing sources of images.
Sometimes I have spent hours trying to identify the source of an image. The search has maybe taken me from Pinterest to a page on e.g. Tumblr or We Heart It, where I find myself tracing the image through a jungle of pages. Usually I find myself in a cul-de-sac. Sometimes I have decided to use the image anyway because I really like it and either I identify the source as 'unknown' or I write where I found it.
Writing 'unknown source' has so far helped me identify the source of three images because some of my readers were so kind to tip me in an email. And sometimes I've accidentally found the source later when browsing the internet. I keep track of all my 'unknown source' posts and of course I update those posts immediately and state the source once I've found it. So right now I haven't decided whether I'll continue using my method or stop posting those images. In her post, Erin talks about what she calls a
SOS system and I like that; I agree with everything she says.
If I find the original source and on their page it clearly states that you need their permission to use their photographs I simply send them an email and ask for their permission. I've always gotten a prompt reply and none of them has refused my request.
I'll probably insult some of my blog friends when I say this (please don't take it too personally): I don't like the method where people link the words 'via', 'here' or '1,2,3...' and when clicking those links you end up on a blog that takes you through endless blogs or Tumblr pages. I want to see the name of the source clearly written under the images and that is the method I use myself, be it the original one or the page where my search came to an end. And one more thing in case you're a Pinterest user: When pinning images, please open the actual post with the image before pinning, if possible. I can't stand it when a pin takes me to a blog where I have to search endlessly for that particular image.
Pia and Erin say that people are welcome to post their poster (and please remember to cite them as sources!) so it'll be fun to see where this discussion leads us. I'm pretty sure that this poster will continue raising awareness about copyrighted material and something tells me that we'll see more professional work among bloggers now that this topic is on the surface. The poster has already inspired me to change my methods and I even updated some posts yesterday; we can all strive to be better bloggers.
I don't believe we'll see an increase in legal actions; I'm pretty sure bloggers, photographers, designers, artists, stylists, etc. can find a common ground which makes everyone happy. The reason I post images from others is that the images or what they represent touch something inside of me and I want to honour the talented person who did that. If a blogger did the same with an image of my own I'm pretty sure I'd be very happy, as long as the source was clearly cited. However, if a blogger posts my own images without citing the source I won't threat legal action, but that person will receive an email from me.
PS. Update: I decided to add a list of all the posts I've seen so far on this issue:
Grace at Design*Sponge:
part 1,
part 2,
part 3
Amanda at Mocking Bird
Chelsea at {frolic}:
part 1,
part 2
Nicole at Little Brown Pen