Nowadays I get annoyed with people using celebrity images. The thing is, you have to stop. Now.

It’s illegal. ILLEGAL. Did you know that? Probably not.

A lot of the time I come across a site that offers celebrity images in the form of ‘blends’ or ‘PSDs’. Most likely you get the images from Google simply by performing a search. You have just taken an image off the internet and decorated with brushes or added some special effects in Photoshop and are distributing it on your site as some icon or layout.

A lot of people think that this is okay. It isn’t. You are editing a photograph that does not belong to you, and you are redistributing it. Just because you can access these images easily from a search engine doesn’t mean that it’s right. In fact, you could get in trouble for displaying and redistributing works without the permission of the initial creator.

But – if you have permission from the creator, or you’ve paid to use them – that’s fine. If you don’t have permission, you could just be taking someone’s work, editing it, and saying it’s yours!

I mean, how would you like it if someone was sifting through Google images and found an image of yours, took it and displayed it on their site and claimed it as theirs? Saying that because they found it on Google it’s okay? I would be annoyed.

This is part of Whatiscopyright.org’s definition of copyright law:

“Copyright laws grant the creator the exclusive right to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute, perform and display the work publicly. Exclusive means only the creator of such work, not anybody who has access to it and decides to grab it.”

Note how it says exclusive. It means that if you are using an image you didn’t receive permission to use, whether you’re making money out of it or not, you’re still violating copyright law.

Another thing that really annoys me is when people sell coded layouts for a small price. (Or a large one.) Not only does no one do that anymore, but often they’re stashed with photos of the latest celebrity to hit the streets – the goddamn Jonas Brothers. So you’re making money out of some layout you made using someone else’s images. Unlawful much? Yes.

And if you don’t think you’re gonna get caught, think again. Check out this article. Getty Images is searching though webpages to find images stolen from them, using advanced technology. Not to mention charging $1000 dollars for every instance they find.

Don’t think you aren’t going to get caught just because there’s so many people out there. ‘I got the images off Google’ is no excuse. Just because a search engine picked them up doesn’t mean it’s the same. Why do you think you have to write bibliographies in school?!

Another thing that majorly pisses me off is when I see credit goes to the original owners. Oh and who the hell are the original owners? Often people credit them on their credits page, sometimes not even at all. It’s incredibly stupid. And even with a credit to the owner, you did not get permission from the owner to use the image, did you?

So don’t think it’s okay. How would you like it if someone came across something you’ve made, taken it and used it to make their own graphics to distribute on their site? And mentioned ‘credit goes to the original owners’, just to make it worse.

It’s more acceptable to credit the original site properly when you use a celebrity image. But even then, you’re using it for personal gain. If you’re not selling, but you’re displaying it on your site to keep visitors coming – that’s still for personal gain.

However, “fair use” can be argued. Fanlistings and such need to use these images when the fanlisting is related to a celebrity. For example, if you’re displaying a photo that isn’t yours and you are making a comment on it or even criticising it, it’s fair to say that that is fair use. If you are supporting an article or anything similar with an image, it can be considered fair use. You are not gaining profit by using the photos. So it is fine to use them in the extreme cases of perhaps a portfolio, perhaps a fanlisting and maybe a layout of you own – but redistributing and claiming as your own are clearly not grounds for fair use.

Of course, you can muck around with these images on your home computer and use them for personal use. But distributing it on your site as “blends” isn’t very right.

A lot of websites, however, do offer images which you can use.. so it’s not the end of the world. Take yourself to 100 Legal Sources For Free Stock Images. One that I like to use is Stock Xchng.

I wrote this article because time and time again I have just come across so many sites featuring celebrities that’s it’s just abysmal. It’s enough. Often different people get the same image, and use them to make different layouts. Gosh, I’ve seen it before. The same picture of Katy Perry. Or Demi Lovato. It gets boring.

I am also appalled with the number of reviews requested from me that have been violating copyright laws. In their review I mention the trouble they could be in (the word ‘illegal’ doesn’t cut it anymore), yet they still continue to do the same thing. Worse, numerous times I apply for a review, I get told to make a celebrity layout! Are you kidding me?

You have got to be joking. Not only is it ILLEGAL but it’s completely, drastically unoriginal. What the hell happened to originality?

It’s the reason why I’ve used my own photos as much as possible. It’s more original and I honestly have more fun with it. I like it, personally. I don’t want to pay $1000 just for something so small.

So be warned, because one day you may get caught (I’m not saying you will – you may), and it’s not worth it.

It’s your choice. Some people pay for images to be used. Some people don’t – which carries a great risk of being in trouble. You can have your own opinion on this subject – as we all are entitled to our opinions.

This article would not be the same without the help of Anomalyd’s article on copyright infringement.