Photo etiquette question
I'm not much of a photographer, but I love looking at photography. There are some lovely photos on Vox that I would like to include on my computer's screensaver slideshow.
My question(s): Would that be appropriate?
Should I ask for permission - even if it is for private (screensaver) use? Or is it safe to assume that if it is shared freely here then I can use it, so long as I give proper credit if I were to use it elsewhere?
I don't know what the etiquette is for this.
Anyone?
Comments
It is NOT safe to assume anything when talking about other peoples photographs or artwork. They hold a copyright on it and although many will be flattered that you like it enough to download it, downloading it without permission is technically stealing.
There are many serious amateur and professional photographers on Vox due to the link up with istockphoto.com and flikr - to them copyright is a very serious thing and unoffical downloading is an ever present problem. Most of us only upload very low resolution images and most should have a watermark or copyright statement on them. If they have, then you really shouldn't download them even for your personal use but a short polite voxmail may give surprising results.
The internet -- both a weapon for good (sharing, learning, etc.) and evil (stealing, threatening. etc.) for both consumers and "retailers."