Inadvertently breaching copyright

[Storker]

I don't know if everybody is aware of this, but whenever you use the "Image" function and put in a link to an image somewhere else on the 'net, SB actually downloads and hosts that image.

While inline-linking other peoples' images or videos is somewhere in the grey zone WRT copyright (heck, YouTube even encourages such practice), hosting and displaying other peoples' images or videos without prior approval are considered a clear breach of copyright.

So remember that whenever you use the "Image" function with a picture someone else has published, you are in fact breaching copyright, since SB silently downloads that picture and hosts it on scubaboard.com Which neither you nor SB have any right to do unless it has been approved by the copyright owner.

 

[Bert van den Berg]

Interesting. So even posting a link to a picture or video makes you a criminal?

 

[NYCNaiad]

@Storker, As far as I'm aware re: SB functionality & selecting "image", you are correct. However, this is true of most social media (e.g., Youtube as you noted as well as Facebook, Instagram, etc.). And it really bugs me because I've had photos stolen this way sometimes by people who didn't know better & sometimes by people who did.

@Bert van den Berg If you just include a link to a picture or video (i.e., using the chain link icon as opposed to the landscape image icon) on any social media, it wouldn't be a problem.

(I work in technology including a background working with image management software.)

 

[Storker]

So even posting a link to a picture or video makes you a criminal?

No. A link alone is OK. Even an inline-linked image or video is OK, and the previous board software just showed the image you linked to without downloading it to SB's server. Other forums like e.g. Wetpixel still just show linked images from their original location. Go to one of the image threads, like this one, right-click on the image and check its address. It's not hosted on Wetpixel, it's hosted where the owner put it.

But if you paste that link into the image function here on SB with the current board software, either you, SB, or both (I really don't know whose responsibility it really is) are breaching copyright because of what happens in the background here. Do the same right-click thing on an image in a thread here on SB, and you'll find that the image is hosted here. Because, as I said, the board software downloads the image and displays the downloaded copy.

If it's your own image, you aren't doing anything wrong, because you as the copyright owner are uploading the file to SB's server, which grants SB the right to show the image. Even if you don't know that you're doing just that.

 

[Caveeagle]

Does this only apply if the image has the copyright noted on the picture?

 

[kelemvor]

I don't know if everybody is aware of this, but whenever you use the "Image" function and put in a link to an image somewhere else on the 'net, SB actually downloads and hosts that image.

While inline-linking other peoples' images or videos is somewhere in the grey zone WRT copyright (heck, YouTube even encourages such practice), hosting and displaying other peoples' images or videos without prior approval are considered a clear breach of copyright.

So remember that whenever you use the "Image" function with a picture someone else has published, you are in fact breaching copyright, since SB silently downloads that picture and hosts it on scubaboard.com Which neither you nor SB have any right to do unless it has been approved by the copyright owner.

I reported it to the admins a few months ago. They didn't seem concerned. I don't think it's the user that would be in trouble, because it takes someone fairly savvy to even figure out that scubaboard did this. My opinion was that if they're willing to foot the bill for the lawsuit, I guess that's the end of it until something happens.

 

[Tassi Devil Diver]

Sounds like a problem for SB rather than the poster of the image, its not their intention to move the picture to another server.

 

[kelemvor]

@Storker
@Bert van den Berg If you just include a link to a picture or video (i.e., using the chain link icon as opposed to the landscape image icon) on any social media, it wouldn't be a problem.

Scuba board has functionality enabled that will download the linked image and host it themselves automatically behind the scenes. That's the issue which is going to make it their problem rather than the user's. It's very hard to tell this is even happening.

 

[Diver0001]

This may help:
http://lifehacker.com/follow-this-chart-to-know-if-you-can-use-an-image-from-1615584870

 

[Lorenzoid]

Does this only apply if the image has the copyright noted on the picture?

Every image has a copyright from the moment it's created. The copyright notice provides some protections for the owner, but it isn't required.