Copyright Images

In a digital world it’s very easy to find images/photos at the click of button, however we need to be aware of copyright before we use them.

The legislation is lengthy to read however, to look at it in the simplest way, any photograph belongs to the person who took it and it’s up to them if they are happy for anyone else to use. Sometimes an image will state taken by .. and you will often see the copyright symbol or a watermark and that proves they are the owner; therefore, the image can’t be seen as anyone else’s.

Before using an image, you must take steps to ask the owner if they are happy for you to use it in your context. If you are unable to do this, then there are various places you can find copyright free images you can use. It is good practice to note the author and where you took the image from ie image by Joe Blogs from Pixabay. This information is provided when you download the image.

https://pixabay.com/

https://unsplash.com/

There also sites where you can pay for images such as www.shutterstock.com, however the free options are just as good.

Copyright also applies to music you can find copyright free music here

https://pixabay.com/

There is also an audio library in the Youtube studio.

If you are using Canva to create images or video’s it states on the website “Canva gives you non-exclusive licences to use stock content in your designs, (including photos, graphics, videos, fonts, and music) for a range of permitted uses”

You can read more about it here https://www.canva.com/en_gb/help/copyright-design-ownership/

Managing Trustees can sometimes receive quite threatening emails claiming a copyright strike, these are “Copyright Trolling” emails and are design to intimidate and to obtain financial gain. If you receive such an email, please do not reply, do not click on any link and forward it to Sam Roberts, District Communications Officer at comms@sheffieldmethodist.org for further advice.

If you are concerned you have used a copyrighted image without permission please remove it and contact Sam Roberts, District Communications Officer at comms@sheffieldmethodist.org for further advice.

Useful resources

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/copyright-acts-and-related-laws