Where to get legally free-to-use photos

free-stuffYou’ve become aware that copying photos and graphic images you find on the internet might be considered stealing them. This may or may not be morally wrong but breaking the law is at least a bit problematic. If you need pictures and don’t want to pay for them, here are sources for getting them legally free:

creative commons logoImages licensed under Creative Commons terms are free to use although they do have some strings attached to them (creators want to be named, for one thing). Photopin is a repository where you can find plenty of “free” Creative Commons pictures. read more

Some thoughts on copyright law – mine and others’

Tony Bynum's foot of Glacier National ParkI came across a pretty interesting discussion on copyright law today, which was sparked by photographer Tony Bynum’s post on the illegality of using photographs found on the internet and copied. Yes, that’s right: we are supposed to get permission to use photographs and custom graphics by obtaining the creator’s verbal or written authorization or by paying … because all images are somebody’s intellectual or creative property and they’re protected by a body of law known as copyright law. Images are owned by their creator or the company they were working for when an image was created. read more

Go to jail for unlocking your phone? Yep, you might.

unlock phone

unlock phoneFirst things first. You know that 1) if you buy a phone you should be able to hook it up with whatever service you want to use and 2) nobody should send you to jail or fine you up to half a million dollars just because you unlock your phone. What if you want to switch to the ATT network because you’re fed up with Verizon, or because you move out of Verizon’s service area? The Library of Congress says, “Tough luck.” If you unlock your phone after January 26 without a carrier’s permission, you could get in a lot of trouble and end up paying heavy fines – even jail time. So sign the White House petition asking Obama to add his voice to The People’s and ask the Library of Congress to make phone unlocking legal again. The petition is pretty close to getting the 100,000 signatures it needs to get an official White House response. read more