copyright logo question

[k.andy_photos]

So I began a business and just as a way to quickly draw up a rough draft of

what I wanted my logo to be, I googled an image on the web of a picture of a

lens. I used that because I have not shot anything of that sort. I drew up a

design around the image. Since I found it on google, does that mean it's

copyrighted and I cannot use the image even though anyone can copy it? I just

need to do some advertising fast and do not want to waste my time setting up a

shoot if I can at all avoid it. Researching the image, I discovered that it was

used for an article of how lens performed in a magazine. I have almost

completly altered the image so it matches my colors and whatnot but I like the

red flare. It's gonna take a while to set up a new shoot and I'm running out of

time. I need to know now. Can anyone help me?

[Matt Laur]

If you didn't create the original image, you do not own the copyrights, and if you haven't licensed the image, you don't have the rights to use it. Anything you do BASED on that image is considered derivative, and still requires permission from the image's owner. You can find exerpts from famous novels, or this week's Washington Post articles "on Google" too... would you assume that the creators of that content aren't worried about their copyrights?

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If you are starting your own business, you need to ask yourself how you'd feel about other people ripping off YOUR work, once you're under way with it. Finding another artist's image online (whether in a published article, as you found it, or otherwise) doesn't make it yours to use any more than finding a magazine article in the library means you can scan an image from it for your own commercial use. The internet isn't a big washing machine that magically removes copyrights from creative works, no matter how many millions of people seem to treat it that way.

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The good news? You actually ASKED! Thank you, on behalf of all of us that have had our copyrights infringed upon (and those of us who just don't yet know we have). If you are about to run some advertising and need an image, run off to any microstock agency online, and pay the few dollars (or pennies) you need to pay in order to get a perfectly legit, licensed image. You'll feel better when you wake up in the morning, believe me.

[tana_d.]

Matt gave great advice.

 

A couple of things - it's not copyrighted because you found the image on google - it's copyrighted by the person who took it because they clicked the shutter. As soon as you click the shutter, you own the copyright to the image. However, copyright, and registering the copyright, are two different things.

 

The second thing is if you buy a micro stock illustration, make sure you're allowed to use it for a business logo. A graphic designer on another board got into trouble for using a vector illustration for a logo she bought off of a microstock site.

[k.andy_photos]

Thank you to both of you for your answers. I appreciate you taking the time to help me out.