To take someones photo and post it as your own???
Came across this today and thought it looked exactly like one I posted here years ago, because it is!

http://www.summitpost.org/coon-lake-win ... nge/968681

http://www.summitpost.org/wind-river-pe ... uth/445317

No, it's not proper. Maybe try PM-ing the person. If you don't want to, the elves can do it.

No this is most definitely not the proper thing to do.

To post something on the internet, be it on SummitPost or elsewhere for that matter, it must either be in the public domain or you must be the copyright owner or have permission. And SP's content is not in the public domain. To quote from SP's Terms and Conditions:

1. Copyright Policy
No copyrighted material may be uploaded to SP without the permission of the copyright owner. This includes images, text, and all other types of intellectual property ("Content"). SP members are responsible for obtaining the necessary permission before posting any copyrighted material. If permission is granted by the copyright owner, the SP member must credit the owner with a link or some other appropriate type of reference.

No material or content may be reproduced from this website and used on other websites, or for personal or financial gain, without the express permission of its owner.


I had a look at the offending member, and among his pictures was another suspect one:
http://www.summitpost.org/view_object.php?object_id=968682 is exactly the same as http://www.panoramio.com/photo/19510124.

On April 5th the same member got photo of the day with a photo that was not only uploaded without permission but also not even crediting the author. So I gave them a message from the elf account:

The photo you recently posted that has part of the title "property of http://www.mountainproject.com" is not actually property of Mountain Project. In their Terms of Service it says "As between you and the Company, you own Your Content. - Source So the author of the person who posted the photo owns the photo, not Mountain Project.

With presentations and such it's usually okay to put someone's photo in with the proper credits. With posting photos on the internet it's a little different. When hot linking (sourcing from their data file) you are not required to get permission, although authors do appreciate it. But when it comes to uploading someone else's photo without their permission it's a different issue. This goes against SP's first rule in the TOS. This is to be compliant with legal reasons.

The good news is that I contacted the author and they replied back "Why don’t they just credit me and next time they know to ask. OK by me." Simply change the title to say "Taken by Andrew Carson" and ask them in the future. Some people are not as nice, but in this case the author seems to be fine with the photo remaining as long as proper credits are made.

Hope you understand, we do recognize that an attempt was made on your part to give credits but it wasn't to the proper author.

- Josh Lewis, Staff Member of SummitPost

The member completely ignored this message, I should have put more emphasis on getting permission too. As a result I finally decided to delete multiple photos of theirs where it was uploaded without permission. I was told by someone to delete the account, however I don't want to be overly harsh. In short, it's not considered proper to do this and goes against SP's terms and conditions.

Sorry, I was not aware that copyright infringement was such a serious thing on this website. I just wanted to enrich my route descriptions with the best photos I could find, as I have not personally been to many of the areas I describe. I will take down the photos.

Thanks for not deleting my account, as I believe the research I've done is potentially a great contribution to backpackers looking to do challenging routes in the Yellowstone area. It's really where my heart lies.

As for the "photo of the day," I received a message from the elves concerning copyright. They sent me a detailed message saying they talked to Andrew Carson and said it was OK with Mr. Carson. The title of the Photo was changed to "photo by Andrew Carson," and I was disappointed that it was still deleted.

RockyMountainAddict707 wrote:Sorry, I was not aware that copyright infringement was such a serious thing on this website.

This is true with just about any website out there. Some sites have less monitoring, hence why they fly under the radar. Wikipedia for example is a lot more strict that SummitPost. I had permission from a friend of mine to post a photo of me, but because I did not have an electronic signature they deleted the photo which was a bit frustrating considering that I went through all the appropriate legal protocols. Aside from the staff wanting to keep things ethical, SP could potentially get in trouble if we allow people to steal other people's photos.

RockyMountainAddict707 wrote:I just wanted to enrich my route descriptions with the best photos I could find, as I have not personally been to many of the areas I describe. I will take down the photos.

I understand this. Here's an example of doing this appropriately: http://www.summitpost.org/eldorado-peak/150316 (see the first panorama that says "Photo Taken by Jim Dockery")
The photo is not actually uploaded to SummitPost, it's "hot linked". So the author still has control of their own photo. If they delete it from Panoramio, it will disappear from my page. While it wasn't required, I asked the author permission too as a courtesy. Some of the photos you had already existed on SP which makes it really easy to source from, you can use the insert image button and simply type the name of the photo/photo ID. This makes it so that you don't have to do any uploading and the author is still linked to.

RockyMountainAddict707 wrote:Thanks for not deleting my account, as I believe the research I've done is potentially a great contribution to backpackers looking to do challenging routes in the Yellowstone area.

I believe in giving people a second chance, especially when it's a situation where it appears the person simply doesn't understand the rules/laws. Also the staff doesn't like punishing those who contribute good content, however warnings must be made when potential legal consequences come into play.[/quote]

RockyMountainAddict707 wrote:As for the "photo of the day," I received a message from the elves concerning copyright. They sent me a detailed message saying they talked to Andrew Carson and said it was OK with Mr. Carson. The title of the Photo was changed to "photo by Andrew Carson," and I was disappointed that it was still deleted.

I kept waiting/hoping for you to change the title of the image to give the proper photo credits. I saw that you logged in and likely got the message, but neither replied to it or changed the title. Even with permission from Andrew (that I had to get on your behalf), you did not credit him. I think there was a short window where I changed the title, however I finally assumed you didn't care about complying with the rules/laws, so I deleted the photo. Now that you have permission from Andrew (specifically for only that photo) you may re-upload it with the proper credits.

For myself I have been caught in scenario's where hot linking was not as ideal. So I met the photographer in person to explain my intent of using their photo and asked for their permission. Their requirement for me was to credit them and put a watermark on the photo as seen here: http://www.summitpost.org/mount-shuksan ... uds/878141
I used a program to insert the watermark and carefully chose a font that was readable but not distracting.

Sunny Buns wrote:Althought not proper, if all they're doing is posting it elsewhere on Summitpost, shouldn't be a big deal.

Aside from authors getting potentially upset, this is mostly true. However if someone wanted to pursue a photo case, then we could be in trouble. If 99% of people don't do this but if we allow this to happen often enough, it could end up being a big deal.

I just wanted to enrich my route descriptions with the best photos I could find, as I have not personally been to many of the areas I describe.

1. You don't have to reload a photo to have it appear on your page. You can use the attach tool to add any member's photos you want to your page. This is allowed and has the same result.

For example, see the page below:

http://www.summitpost.org/wellsville-cone/954747

I only took four photos on the front page, including the signature photo. The other five photos were taken by other members and were simply attached and embedded. When you click on each photo it will show which member took it. I assume most like it when other people link their photos.

It is actually good to use other's photos on your pages for several reasons. For example, it give more exposure to other's work, and it also can portray a different angle or side of the mountain that wasn't the side you climbed. It can also provide photos of different seasons on the mountain. Plus, some photos taken by others are just really good. Using other's photos on pages is good and encouraged, as long as done properly. Copying them and posting them under your own profile is not.

2. It is generally considered to be a no-no to post route descriptions on places that you haven't been. This has been hashed out many times on SP and general consensus was and is that members should only post route descriptions of places that they have been to.

Everyone makes mistakes though, and I have plenty on SP. All is forgiven. Understandably, there is a learning curve. If you need help attaching photos, I can help you.

Sunny Buns wrote:Bill,
Nice photo of the Winds. Caption below one of them requested permission to use it.

Althought not proper, if all they're doing is posting it elsewhere on Summitpost, shouldn't be a big deal. Now, if they are selling your photos as their own that would be a bigger deal. I'd have no objection to someone copying/pasting my photos to show what an area looked like as long as they didn't use the photos is some offensive way - not that I have many photos to copy..............

That photo was actually taken by my son, as I mentioned in the caption. I forwarded the request to use it to him and he allowed the requester to use it (for a poster as I recall).
I don't mind if someone uses one of my photos but I feel that they should at least indicate who took it. If a block of photos are used, I would prefer that notice be given or permission requested.
Just my thinking on the matter.