Is It A Copyright Infringement For Me To Use Images That Are On The Internet For My Background/profile Pic?

Posted by Copyright Law Enquirer on July 11th, 2009 at 10:27am

I found some sweet images I want to use for my Xanga profile pic, but I’m afraid of copyright infringement. I found them through Google.

4 Comments for Is It A Copyright Infringement For Me To Use Images That Are On The Internet For My Background/profile Pic?

1. x_psych0 | July 11th, 2009 at 3:17 pm

Most of the files are copywrited but as long as you acknowledge that it isn’t yours maybe write a side note on your page and it will be o.k.
2. azawalli | July 11th, 2009 at 8:35 pm

You’d have to find out whether those images are in the public domain or copyrighted. Since the internet is a great medium for sharing and spreading copyrighted material, if I was a betting man, I’d say your images are probably copyrighted.
3. ScottB | July 12th, 2009 at 3:19 am

Well, that depends on your judgment. A lot of the time people will either ask permission to use a photo or at least have a small hyper link which gives credit to the image owner.
Try asking if you want there is a fairly good chance they will grant you permission. Otherwise I don’t think anyone would prosecute for this.
4. liverpoo | July 12th, 2009 at 6:54 am

Strictly speaking, yes, it is copyright infringement, unless the owner of the site that they came from explicitly gives permission for public use of the images. While the chances of any action being taken against you are very slim, particularly if you are not using them for commercial gain, the polite thing to do would be to ask permission from the owner.