Understanding Photo and Copyright Issues
Do You Own That?
Residents love a social media page with a personal touch.
That’s why we encourage you to send us photos and text as much as possible. We try to know your area as well as the locals, but a page that reflects what it’s like ‘on the ground’ in your apartment community will always get a strong response.
So by all means, send us photos of holiday parties and book clubs. If residents or staff want to share favorite recipes, send those too. Only your imagination limits your page content. But remember that you must own or have permission to use any content that you send us. Follow these simple rules to avoid headaches and potential legal action:
In general, it’s unsafe to use anything from elsewhere on the internet, even if you change it somehow.
Recipes or brief article excerpts (under 100 words) are okay, as long as you cite the source.
Try not to use photographs that you didn’t take yourself. If you want to use stock photography or clipart, you must license it from the rights holder. Exceptions to this are public domain images. To find out more about public domain images, click here.
Do you want to check your image to make sure it is not copyrighted? Here is a quick tip to help you find out….. Open Google Images, click the camera icon to search by image and either paste an image URL or upload an image to search with.
With any luck, the original source of the image will be among the results. Still not sure, use one of our suggested sites to find a photo…
When photographing events, post signs that attendees may be photographed and published online.
If you want to use a picture taken by a resident, ask his/her permission first.
By sending us content, you certify that you have the right to publish it.
We’re happy to post whatever you want – as long as you own it. Let us know if you have any questions.