• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Digital Maestro

Harmonizing Your Online Strategy

  • Home
  • About
  • Work With Us
    • Coaching
      • One-on-One Coaching
    • Services
      • Set Up Services
      • Website Maintenance
  • Products
    • WPICA
    • WP Security Help
  • Blog
    • Affiliate Marketing
    • Plugins
    • Business
  • Resources
    • Registrar
    • Hosting
  • Contact

Sep 05 2014

Getty Images sues Microsoft over new online photo tool

It should come at no surprise that I am an advocate for copyright laws. Nothing bothers me more than illegal music copying and stealing images off the web.

Just because you find something does not mean you can have it and/or use it as you desire. Someone else took the time and effort to create something and they may not want you using it.

I feel like I am in a constant ‘debate’ with someone over the rights of copying a movie, music, images, or any other digital work.

Just a couple weeks ago I had a conversation with a client that went something like this:

Client: “Just go over to my suppliers’ websites and get some images off of their sites to use on my website.”

Me: “I cannot do that.”

Client: “Oh yes you can – I know you know how to get images.”

Me: “I know HOW to get the images, but it is against the law.”

As a rule, you simply cannot find an image on the web and use it for your own use. That has the very high potential of making you guilty of copyright infringement.

 

The news service Reuters just published an article where they reported that Microsoft is being sued for doing just that!

The “Bing Image Widget,” released on Aug. 22, gives publishers the ability to create a panel on their websites that displays digital images supplied by Microsoft’s Bing search engine, according to the lawsuit.

Rather than draw from a pool of licensed images, the lawsuit claimed, the product grants access to the billions of images that can be found online, without regard to whether the photos are copyrighted.

“In effect, defendant has turned the entirety of the world’s online images into little more than a vast, unlicensed ‘clip art’ collection for the benefit of those website publishers who implement the Bing Image Widget, all without seeking permission from the owners of copyrights in those images,” the lawsuit said.Reuters

One of the things we do in the WordPress Inner Circle Club is provide folks with a list of resources where you can obtain royalty free images that you are ALLOWED to use on your website. Some images will cost a fee to use (around a dollar an image for the license) and in many cases there are sources you can use images for free!

Come join us! WordPress Inner Circle Club

 

Written by Paul · Categorized: Blogging Category, Resources · Tagged: images, legal, microsoft

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

UpCity: Best of New Jersey

UpCity Best of New Jersey

Proud Member

Recent Posts

  • Voice Search and Local SEO: The Shift You Can’t Afford to Ignore
  • The Local Business Owner’s Guide to Holiday Promotions That Work
  • 7 Holiday Marketing Mistakes That Can Cost Your Local Business (and How to Avoid Them)
  • How Small Businesses Can Compete With Big Brands in the New Year
  • Holiday Marketing on a Budget: Creative Ideas That Don’t Break the Bank

WordPress Topics

  • Affiliate Marketing
  • Blogging Category
  • Business Building
  • Coaching Category
  • General
  • List Building
  • Marketing
  • Plugins
  • Resources
  • SEO
  • Services
  • Social Media
  • Themes
  • Traffic
  • Uncategorized
  • Video Subscription
  • Webinar
  • WordPress Online Strategy

Missinglettr

Copyright © 2025 · Digital Maestro · Disclaimer · Privacy Policy · Terms of Service · Accessibility · Stay Awesome!