Not JUST a Virtual Club

Hi Andy


Copyright of any image always sits with the image owner I believe, unless its licensed under the Creative Commons Zero license. It is a huge can of worms and I'm probably not the best person to explain it fully!


However, it's very easy just to right click and save any image that you find on the internet which is why as a commercial photographer who sells images, you would never post a photo on a website or on social media without first plastering your logo/watermark all over it and without including your purchasing and licensing terms. That's why any images you find on Google always state 'May be subject to copyright' as the onus is on you to ensure you have the correct permissions to use the image. 


When you upload an image to the community there is an option to 'share with the sitewide gallery' which puts a copy of the image into the resource gallery which is a public space. If you choose not to share the image in that gallery then it only appears in the forum post or group gallery that you've added it to. But again it's easy for anyone to right click and save image...


There is a disclaimer that appears in relevant areas within the community that says:

"The majority of content posted in IET communities is created by Institution members and members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated and are not those of the IET. The IET is not responsible for any content posted by members of the public on Engineering Communities or for the availability or content of any third party sites that are accessible through the IET websites. Any links to third party websites from the IET do not amount to an endorsement of that site by the IET. Any use of that site by you is at your own risk.

By uploading content you confirm that it does not violate or infringe any copyright, trade mark, privacy, personal or proprietary laws or rights."


So basically, when you upload images to the community you're confirming to us that it's not infringing anyone's copyright. 


There are plenty of websites out there that provides royalty free images under the creative commons licence and there are different variations of that too. Some will allow you to use images as long as you include an attribution to the photographer along with their copyright and some require no attribution at all. 


Again Google makes it easy to find similar images on the internet which is how you can search for anyone who is using your commercial images without your consent... 


Hope that helps?

Hi Andy


Copyright of any image always sits with the image owner I believe, unless its licensed under the Creative Commons Zero license. It is a huge can of worms and I'm probably not the best person to explain it fully!


However, it's very easy just to right click and save any image that you find on the internet which is why as a commercial photographer who sells images, you would never post a photo on a website or on social media without first plastering your logo/watermark all over it and without including your purchasing and licensing terms. That's why any images you find on Google always state 'May be subject to copyright' as the onus is on you to ensure you have the correct permissions to use the image. 


When you upload an image to the community there is an option to 'share with the sitewide gallery' which puts a copy of the image into the resource gallery which is a public space. If you choose not to share the image in that gallery then it only appears in the forum post or group gallery that you've added it to. But again it's easy for anyone to right click and save image...


There is a disclaimer that appears in relevant areas within the community that says:

"The majority of content posted in IET communities is created by Institution members and members of the public. The views expressed are theirs and unless specifically stated and are not those of the IET. The IET is not responsible for any content posted by members of the public on Engineering Communities or for the availability or content of any third party sites that are accessible through the IET websites. Any links to third party websites from the IET do not amount to an endorsement of that site by the IET. Any use of that site by you is at your own risk.

By uploading content you confirm that it does not violate or infringe any copyright, trade mark, privacy, personal or proprietary laws or rights."


So basically, when you upload images to the community you're confirming to us that it's not infringing anyone's copyright. 


There are plenty of websites out there that provides royalty free images under the creative commons licence and there are different variations of that too. Some will allow you to use images as long as you include an attribution to the photographer along with their copyright and some require no attribution at all. 


Again Google makes it easy to find similar images on the internet which is how you can search for anyone who is using your commercial images without your consent... 


Hope that helps?