Technical Forum

Hello fellow travellers!

I am now building my own website, with a very tinny agency (not travel agency!)

My question is: Am I allowed to use 3 or 4 pictures from VT? Or will I be having problems if I do so? Are they free to copy and paste into my webspace?

Thank you for your answers!

Cheers,
Helena

Hi Helena - some pictures have a copywrite mark while most do not It maybe a good idea if you select some pictures to ask the members permission, I have been asked this in the past and was happy to help. Good luck with the site.

Please do ask the member's permission. Even if the copyright is not marked on each picture, people won't appreciate having their pictures stolen. I'd consider that "stolen" if mine were concerned. Especially for a commercial website. Poeple post private material here to share their travel experiences with others, this website is not meant to be a free self-service store.

You may NOT use ANYTHING that you have gotten from VT without prior permission. Everything on VT is covered by copyright laws.

is the service that you are offering in your small agency for free ??
I mean on a lousy day, when you just sit around without customers and I come in, would you serve me without charge, simply because without me you would not have any customer at all...
;-)
b.t.w. when you ask the VT-members for the permission, 99% of them will give you that permission free of charge,depending how you are using these pics !

Hello Giampiero,
thank you for your answer.
However I just have put a question. I think I do not deserve being shout. And of course I will ask the owner, as I don't go to XX house and take their china because I like it.
My question was put because I thought I had to pay to VT.
My english is not so good as I understand legal english.
But as I said, I don't think I deserve such an answer.

Kind regards,
Helena

Hi!
I thank you for your answers!
My english is not very good and by reading the legal parts of VT I was not sure if it is allowed (with or without permission), nor if I have to pay for the pictures. That's why I asked.
As I said to Gianpiero, in the same way that I don't go to XX's house and take his china with me because I like it, I am polite enough to ask if I may use something and leave it if not.
Once again, thank you very much!
Cheers,
Helena

Helena, allow me to note that your initial post does not mention any intention to ask the owner first etc.

It does read as if you were expecting to be able to just copy and paste.

I think G was stressing the words, rather than 'shouting', to make it very clear. It is an important issue, because in the past members have found not only their photos but also their VT tips/content on other websites with any permission being sought.

Yeah, sometimes I feel I have to go out of my to stress these things...not shouting just adding emphasis, but I think it's all ok now, right, Helen ;)

Hello Katrin,
in fact I did not explicit mentioned it but I thought if I ask if I may, the answer could include such a suggestions as: Ask the owner first, please.
Many greetings,
Helena

Hello Leics,
No, I was asking if I am allowed and if I may.
And the art of answer I was expecting was: Yes/No/Ask the owner/...
Of course if I am not allowed to do so ("they are not for free") I won't do it. That was my example for: If I go to XX's house, I am not taking his china with me just because I like it. And if I ask if I may, I hope to get such an answer as Yes/No/Perhaps...
Many greetings,
Helena

Helena,
I appreciate you asking this question. You seem a nice person attempting a mutually interesting task.

Decisions are made on an individual basis if I will allow someone to use my photos (from my VT pages or otherwise). Some of the reasons I would be hesitant to say yes to your request follow.

Your site looks like it may be interesting but you must be a member (free) to view anything substantive.
I would be reluctant to donate photos to a site which has no photos available to be viewed,
so I could not view the context that the photos would be used in, and I cannot be certain that your volunteer management would be exercising the control on spammers and such that a site such as VT does.

I understand your desire to build your website. It seems to offer a nice niche for travelers. Though not a direct competition to VT, your site is also a travelers website. Perhaps if you had contacted the management -G - to request copyright information rather than a general post, it would not have been viewed as yet another site attempting to benefit on the back of VT and it's members work.

My pages here have been a labor of love for me. Just as I feel your website is likely a labor of love for you. We all understandably feel a bit protective of those labors.

I wish you the best.
Jill

Hello Jelw,

First of all, thank you for your friendly answer.

I don't know if I understood you completely. That's why I think you seem to believe I am talking about my travel guide here, at VT. If so, you are wrong!

Of course I made my page here, on VT with love for my hometown and I am very happy to be able to show Palamos to the world. But the pictures I was asking about, are mented for another site I still did not built thus cannot be seen yet by anybody. And either I get the permission to use the pics or I do not use them at all.

Once again thank you for your friendly answer!

Nice greetings,
Helena
(My question was due as there are sites on the web with free pics and I wondered if VT was like this, too. Now I know it).

As you now know, you have to get permission from each photographer to use the pictures that they have taken and posted, but you do not have to pay VT for them. If you use pictures without getting permission it is a legal issue and you or VT could be sued for copying photos. VT is not a copyright free site - all the pictures on here are copyrighted by their authors.

I have both had pictures stolen from here (without my permission and it made me quite angry but I didn't do anything about it because it was someone I had thought was a friend), and I have had my photos from here used WITH permission. I would almost always give permission if asked, and if I was sure what use was going to be made of the photos. I have given permission to publish my photos for free to an Intercoastal Waterway Guide, and also to a man who is researching menhaden boats. I've also given pictures that I've taken to my grandchildren to use on their myspace pages.

I have refused permission when people don't ask nicely - such as a lady who said she was writing and article for which she would be paid, and she thought my pictures would be a nice addition to it. Plus she wanted me to go out and take more pictures for her (for free of course). I said no in that case.

And if I think the use that my pictures will be put to is not one that I endorse, then I would refuse permission.

Helena,

Thank you for the clarification. I misunderstood, I thought you were speaking of the hospitality club site.