After becoming a new @OCD curator I've discovered how frustrating finding good, new content can be on steemit. Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining, but after feeling so lost on steemit because my content was not being seen I hope to share some knowledge I've gained recently.
Starting Using Pixabay or Other Similar Sites
If you're not familiar with Pixabay you should start using them instead of relying on google images.
What is Pixabay?
Pixabay is a vibrant community of creatives, sharing copyright free images and videos. All contents are released under Creative Commons CC0, which makes them safe to use without asking for permission or giving credit to the artist - even for commercial purposes.
Be warned they do pull images from Shutterstock so not all images are "free", but these images are indicated with the Shutterstock logo across the picture or are in the "sponsored" category. While these images are free and you don't have to give credit to the author, I recommend sourcing the image on Steemit, so there is no question of who the image belongs to.
Pulling Images off the "Internet"
If you have random images on your blog or in your article with no sources included this will eliminate you from most if not all curation services. Please, if you feel like you are creating awesome content, but not being noticed by whales or curation services make sure all images (as well as information pulled or copied and pasted from other sites) are at least sourced somewhere in your article.
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NOTE! Just because the content is sourced doesn't mean you have permission to pull whatever you want from the internet and use it. To avoid legal implications it's always best to either pull from a free-to-use site such as Pixabay or to get permission from the author before posting, but putting in a little effort can go a long ways.
Pictures are a Great Way to Get Articles Noticed
All good articles need pictures or images. Just look at any popular blog. Putting in the minimum effort finding and sourcing good images may be the difference between a $1 post and a $10-$20 post. Trust me, I've wrong across many posts with great content, but images that are not sourced.
If you know of any other good websites with free-to-use images please feel free to share them in the comments below.
I've never noticed a difference between upvotes based on whether the images used were "free to use" or not.
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I'm not saying you'll see a massive increase in upvotes.
2 points:
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You are correct, a lot of manual curation teams will overlook your posts if you don't properly source your images, and many steemit users will not upvote you if you have not sourced or given proper credit to the owner of the images you have used.
Also, you are correct in that using an image without the authors permission could land you in court with a very expensive lawsuit. Copyright law states that the photographer owns the copyright on any image they have taken and it applied automatically from the moment you press the shutter on you camera. You don't need to register it or add a watermark or the copyright symbol to it.
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It's a nice practice for people to do it on Steemit, but agree it's not required. Unless you talk about the picture you're posting such as look at this picture at such and such location. You could be lying, but think it helps give clarity it's your picture. Also, doing it is more for clarity that it's your picture than claiming "ownership" of the picture. Just my thoughts though.
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You are absolutely correct :)
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I always use my own pictures, but, sometimes do not watermark them and I never give the source. I thought it was understood that it was yours unless sourced. :(
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Maybe I'm just a glass half full type person and a little pessimistic.
I'm more referring to the type of posts that clearly used created images such as my first or second picture without a source. If you're making an #marketfriday post it's pretty clear that you're taking and using your own images. Also, if you have 100 posts about how to be a better farmer, I'm also going to assume any farm pictures you have will be your own.
Just my thoughts and opinions on how to be a better Steemian :D. I'm by no means the sheriff of Steemit.
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But by not marking them, you are making them "orphan" images on the web - free for anyone to take and upload to Pixabay etc. . Steemit is fully searchable on the web.
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Thank you. I used to mark them all, but, stopped when someone asked me why I was watermarking that picture. eyeroll
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Oh, that's weird! There are some who think you should not add your copyright, but I don't agree. For the same reason, I resize everything to a smaller 72dpi before uploading, I never upload full size images to the web!
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I don't either
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Good for you. There is no need, ,because we are viewing at 72dpi! :-)
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I know that, but, I do it out of habit as I may post it somewhere else
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Not at all! I appreciate it.
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Always a good idea to label your images as yours, otherwise others may swipe them and use them. It happens all the time. :-(
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If it's a particularly good pic for whatever purpose people swipe them and use them anyway (sometimes they'll even bother to remove the watermark, while I was looking up something about video editing the other day I came across one advising people on how to remove watermarks in videos and I had several bad thoughts towards the author of that) >_<
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Of course they do. That's not the point. When you label it, you have established without a doubt that the work is yours and that they are infringing .It is very easy to remove a watermark. I could do it with my eyes closed. LOL! Some people (not all) will hesitate to use a watermarked image because they know it is wrong.
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I probably should have clarified that I generally advise along similar lines to you (to watermark things), was more throwing it out there because I wanted to express annoyance over people who go out of their way to try to remove other people's watermarks and also because I have known people who were genuinely shocked that watermarking didn't render their works unstealable :)
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Thanks! i like your creative logo! :-)
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As I mentioned to @gniksivart, Denise, it's for your own protection to label them. Once on Steemit, your images are searchable on the web, and if they are not marked, they can be swiped and uploaded to the free sites like Pixabay!!!
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Thank you~
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Do you know of any easy apps to label them?
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I do mine in Photoshop, but I do have an app for my iPhone called iwatermark+. I rarely use it because most of my iPhone shots directly uploaded are for the selfie contest, and I don't worry about anyone taking those, although they might. Lol! I usually transfer my iPhone shots to the computer and put my copyright on there. I used to do a subtle one using a Photoshop action, and it covered the image with a copyright symbol, but don't do that now. You can also digitally watermark your images in Photoshop with a program that tracks them on the web. It's called Digimarc, but it is not free.
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Cool. I downloaded an app as most of my pics are currently taken with my phone. I don't take really great or sellable pictures, but agree that it is important to establish ownership.
Do you have any experience using a pseudonym? I'd rather not use my real name. I did a quick Google search and I see that it can be done, but I wanted to check if you have any lessons learned.
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No experience there, I'm afraid. I have always used my real name. I used to use the tag line "Artist With A Camera" and still do sometimes, but in recent years have noticed that someone copyrighted its use as a name. I guess that's what you have to watch out for. I remember a few years back when a Scottish hamburger cafe owner used even his real name McDonald's and was sued by McDonald's. There was a huge uproar in Scotland at the time, but can't remember the outcome now!
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I am glad you are drawing attention to the problem of images being used without permission. All images should show the correct source (which means the photographer who is THE SOURCE, not the place where the image was already being used). Of course, stating a source, never gives you the right to use the image! Only the copyright holder has that right. Stating a source, only fulfills Steemit's requirement that the images are not plagiarized (which is not illegal, but copyright infringement is.)
Photographers on Pixabay have given up those rights, but BEWARE - not all photos on Pixabay belong to the people who uploaded them! It is the USER's responsibility to double check that the images they use from Pixabay actually belong there.
The terms of service on Pixabay say that the Uploader must make sure that the images are not copyright. But the USER is also responsible in a court of law - and not knowing is not an excuse!
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I didn't realize this thanks for sharing!
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You are welcome. Not enough is done on Steemit to educate about Copright. I try to do that every now and again, but it's not a very popular subject - for obvious reasons. LOL! Just give a source and you can use anything you like from the web - NOT! LOL!
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You have received an upvote from STAX. Thanks for being a member of the #steemsilvergold community and opting in (if you wish to be removed please follow the link). Please continue to support each other in this great community. To learn more about the #steemsilvergold community and STAX, check this out.
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Nice post and it generated a great conversation I have learned a lot.
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Thanks for the information about Pixabay. I might not use it but atleast I know where to recommend my friends if they need pictures to put on their posts.
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I don't use it all the time either, but just wanted to share the information!
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Thank you :)
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Very educational post, thanks for that, cheers.
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This post has received a 0.11 % upvote from @drotto thanks to: @banjo.
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Yer because you made so much money on this post $0.81 cents. Fast lane to success. Steemit is for whales not nobodies. Get a life the lot of ya.
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